A few years before the world went to shit with the covid-19 outbreak and you used to be able to travel freely and without restriction, in 2016 to be more precise my wife and I travelled to China. She came across a 2 week travel deal that included a 4 night cruise up the Yangtze for a good price, I mean really good, I still didn't believe it was going to happen until our tickets actually got us onto the plane good.
But anyway it turns out to be legit and we were on our way to Beijing, China. We land and are promptly met by our tour guides and are explained to how all this was going to work and what to do if we got separated, which thankfully never happened. Upon arriving at our hotel, I was amazed by how delux it was, I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this.
What's the first tour destination in Beijing? Well it's gotta be the Great Wall of China, does it not? The journey there wasn't too long, less than an hour and the scenery to it was unremarkable and a little desolate to be honest but then entering the Great Wall of China precinct changed all that. With rolling hills and the wall proudly riding them like a surfer riding a wave, it stretched on and on as far as the eye could see and really is a wonder of the world. We were told this was off peak season and boy am I glad it was because it was still super busy. It is also the first time I started to realise that tall white westerners were not that common around here as I drew my fair share of wide eye'd looks from the locals, one family even asked to have me in their family photo, ha!
Next we moved onto a jade workshop, where some amazing works of art were being hand carved, as we walked in the apprentices were busy honing their skills in little booths, with the masters either critiquing their work or adding to there own portfolios. This mural below was carved out of a three piece of jade and took over 5yrs to complete.
That night after a brief rest at the hotel we were once again on the bus for a night tour of Beijing. We were heading to a street market and a near by arcade to sample some of the night life Beijing had to offer.
The food markets with their vibrant colours and electric atmospheres weren't really to my tastes as delicacies like frog / snake / spider on a stick were their main fare, I'm sure if I was hungry enough I'd tuck in but on that day I was all good.
The arcade was really pretty and I can see why they wanted to show it off at night, with paddle boats near by for rent and the lights reflecting off the water it was a relaxing way to end a hectic but enjoyable first day.
- Platypus-Dundee