Beijing

After Hong Kong i went to Beijing, the story can be found recorded in these pages.

My first impression of Beijing is.....Brown. From my window on the airplane I can see fields and low, uniform houses. Its imposingly boring, brown. From there on it gets worse. The telephone card vending machine eats my money, the free wireless network does not work so I cant find the addresses to the hotels I want, and the lady at the hotel booking counter gives me a more expensive hotel than I had hoped for. The shuttle bus lady says I should take bus number two, but the buses don't have numbers so I have to go back to the hotel booking counter and find a street to get off at. When I get to the bus, the guy collecting the tickets mumbles something incomprehensible, and remember I am supposed to know some Chinese but I do not get it, neither does it help that he repeats it three times but keeps mumbling. Not until he points to the sign with the list of destinations do I understand and point to the right one. I think he was trying to say “dao nar?” which means “where to?” .  

So from this I can conclude that, while Cantonese is Chinese with extra gibberish, Beijing dialect seems to be what danish is to Swedish, the same language but spoken with a mouth full of porridge. I get off the bus and it is freezing cold, I stand there for a while trying to catch a taxi but it is impossible so in desperation, I start walking in a random direction to see if it is easier there. I pass a few three wheeled little motorbike thingies but can not figure out what they are selling until one of the guys – who turns out to be a driver – steps up to me and asks “you go where” in surprisingly clear Chinese. I show him the note with the hotel address, ask for the price and off we go. The little door opens involuntarily a few times, the guy drives like a maniac and I can smell gasoline - it is not even close to safe, but I'm having fun. Finally something seems to be working out and I am enjoying myself, it's back – the feeling of happiness of exploring new things is back and during a few minute long, wild ride, everything is great. I get to the hotel, fix a few things and get an early night. 

The picture is taken on a different day but this is the kind of vehicle I was in that night.