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China 2017

november 2017
  • Johanne Brookes
Een 12-daags avontuur van Johanne Meer informatie
  • Johanne Brookes

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  • Johanne BrookesReizigerChina 2017

    In Flight Entertainment

    4 november 2017, Turkije ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Currently at 35000 feet and about an hour from Beijing. Turkish Airlines have been really good. We started in the No. 1 lounge at Birmingham airport which offered a range of meals and snacks and was generally quiet and quite relaxed. First flight was to Istanbul very comfortable. Good in flight entertainment nice touchscreen system that came out of the seat. And there was more food, meze followed by lamb. Then we arrived in Istanbul and went to find the Turkish Airlines Lounge. It was amazing, vast. Showers, suites. Multiple food choices, tons of entertainment including Scalextric, golf simulation and a pool table. Dad was particularly impressed with the help yourself bar stocked with a range of high end brands. I had a tiny Henessey cognac (Mandy sized) whilst Dad helped himself to a JD and coke. Only a short stay here and then off to find our next flight. The Beijing business class in some ways hasn't felt as plush as the short haul. That was a new (or recently refurbished) plane. This is a bit more scuffed but it has very friendly staff, an in-flight chef and they make up your bed for you! Yet more food... Different meze followed by chicken. Then a few hours sleep (4ish) and breakfast. Salad, cheese, another warm seeded bagel followed by scrambled egg with mushrooms and tomato. Now we are on the final descent to Beijing.Meer informatie

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  • Johanne BrookesReizigerChina 2017

    in Beijing day 1

    4 november 2017, China ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    So after a final spectacular scene from the plane window we landed at Beijing. it is unsurprisingly huge and so the queue for "foreigners" was long but relatively quick only about 30 minutes. There was a slight moment of excitement when we realised we needed to complete an arrivals card and we were now onlt 5 olaces from immigration. No one tells you about the cards, there are no signs just a discrete heap on a table just next to the queue....nearly a nightmare ..if we'd have been sent back arrgh. Then baggage claim and a chaotic customs scan. then we couldnt find our greeter, and then an epic traffic jam into Beijijng. so despite having landed ant 4 it was 7:30 before were ready to hit the streets.
    We walked back from the hotel to the peoples freedom road (?) where there were some tableau celebrating the 68th anniversary of the PRC, fabulous - i think I like the silk road camels best. the Freedom roadwas enormous 10 lanes wide. we then wandered back to our hotel where we decided to hit the noodle bar as we only wanted a snack. of course what we got were two huge bowls - wanton noodles for Dad, speciality lamb for me. Not much lamb but packed with chilli and barberries - yum.
    Now back in our room, thin walls but well appointed, smells rather bordello like at the moment as Dads aftershavw has leaked and we are airing everything off....    Meer informatie

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  • Johanne BrookesReizigerChina 2017
    The camels.... All made from plants
    The Three gorges and ShanghaiCamels and ships... The silk road?Happy DadDancing in the streets1

    An evening stroll

    4 november 2017, China ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    Those camels... Amongst other things

  • Johanne BrookesReizigerChina 2017
    1This is Beiing's Golden Season
    18:15 am in Tiananmen Sq2Its a ridiculously large basket of fruit and flowers..The PRC flag the only emplty space for milesMinority chinese lining up for the Forbidden City

    Tianamen Square

    5 november 2017, China ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    So this morning we have been to Tiananmen square and The Forbidden Palace. Both completely amazing, but for different reasons. Tiananmen:very glad we had a guide, the queues for security were phenomenal. Also amazing was the mass of people queuing for Mao's tomb, approx 2hrs for a few seconds view according to our guide. The square is enormous and full of parties of Chinese people mostly, few westerners. The trees are still in leaf although the weather is chilly 0 degrees this morning. Photos later from my cameraMeer informatie

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  • Johanne BrookesReizigerChina 2017
    2animals on your roof denote your rank...9 animals is best
    A water pot scarred inn the Opium WarsThe much more peaceful womens quarter'sThe moat...enough earth was removed to make a mountain behind the cityAmazing decorationIt is a female lion...it is playing with a cub not a ball (thats how you know...)

    Forbidden City

    5 november 2017, China ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    After Tiananmen square we walked through a subway adorned with carvings (and supervisory soldiers) to the south entrance of the Forbidden City. Enormous thick walls and and multiple layers make it seem like an optical illusion... The further you walk the further away it seems to be... Once in we joined the mass of Chinese tourists and pushed and shoved to peer into buildings. Lots of grim reminders of colonial Britain... Huge brass water pots scarred by British soldiers who thought they were gold and wanted a piece! The main thoroughfare was packed all the way through but eventually we destroyed to the Ladies quarters and the tourists largely evaporated. Our guide told us tales of ancient times and Chinese jokes and took endless photos of Dad and I.Meer informatie

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  • Johanne BrookesReizigerChina 2017
    2Poor Driver
    Our guide Nia and her bikeInside a courtyard

    Hutongs

    5 november 2017, China ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    After the Forbidden city an early lunch - this required a short drive through the chaotic traffic - all slow moving but very random and the parking makes Birmingham look like valet parking. Spicy peanut chicken with cucumber and beef in yellow bean sauce. The for a rickshaw ride around the Hutongs - Beijing's traditional residences built around courtyards.I felt sorry for our driver but him and his bicycle rickshaw coped ok - our guide followed on a bike! This area is a warren of houses and although many dont have their own bathrooms they are inordinately expensive and apparently rarely sold just passed down through the family. China is a mass of interesting contradictions. We walked into on of the courtyards and talked to the owner who told us about the variety of fruits and veg he grows in virtually no soil. Apricots, grapes tomatoes allsorts of stuff. The hutongs have no street windows and no obvious signs of wealth or status but apparently in pre-communist times it was the number of lintels over your doorway that indicated your rank and the shape of the doorstop - book shaped for a civil servant , drum shaped for a soldier...Fascinating and very nearly lost to the redevelopers.Meer informatie

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  • Johanne BrookesReizigerChina 2017
    2Another impressive lion
    2A temple to the female buddha2water caligraphyMonkeyThe covered walkwayExhausted..on the marble bridgeon the way out

    The Summer Palace

    5 november 2017, China ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    Last stop of the day was a brief visit to the Summer palace. Like the Forbidden city you could spend days here but we only scratched the surface. This place has been burnt down 3 times since it was originally built in 1750..so this is the last version1903 or so. A favourite place of the Dragon lady who was the power behind the throne for the last 4 emperors. Kunming lake was misty and surrounded by autumnal leaves but the palace was a cacophony of installed speakers and shouting tour guides. We watched a bloke doing water calligraphy using a special sponge tipped wand, apparently it is a good activity for the retired - I recommended it to Dad but he wasn't keen. The highlight really was a 750m covered walkway along the lake edge that ensured that the women could walk whatever the weather without getting wet or tanned. This was decorated with scenes from legends and classical books including a scene from Monkey. Car access was very difficult, much hooting and honking - our driver is amazing - Its a big car and she maneuvers it with if not exactly ease but definitely with bravado. Traffic was slow on the way back to the city - a good hours drive of solid traffic, not far but very busy - and that was a Sunday afternoon. I expect it wont improve as the week kicks off.Meer informatie

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  • Johanne BrookesReizigerChina 2017
    Dad
    No idea we passed this on the street on the way back to our hotel

    Dad's first Proper Dining Challenge

    5 november 2017, China ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    After a nap we needed food, we thought peking duck would be a logical choice and we noted the address of the nearest recommended venue. However it must have moved or closed or we couldn't recognise it...so we walked round and found a Beef hot pot restaurant ...no English spoken but the menu had translations...I think that was the first bit that unnerved dad - intestine hotpot didn't seem to appeal nor black tripe and that was just what we spotted before an accommodating staff member trotted over with a translated phrase on his phone - "we have a two person special would you like that"? What we got was some vegetation - still growing in a pot, some crispy carbohydrate of some sort, two trays of raw beef, two pots of funky peanut'y sauce and a huge steaming pot containing taro, peppers, beef, and lots of coriander. We worked out a method for cooking the beef by gripping it between enormous cooking chopsticks and swirling it in the pot..tasty but chewy, we crunched some of the unknown golden fried carbohydrate and then the staff took pity on is and came to help us out. We'd been doing it all wrong...mostly slowly and inefficently rather than anything else. Except for the fried carb..which we were supposed to add to the stock until it went floppy...and took on the consistency of old leather. By this time Dad had decided he really didn't care for beef and in the end I decided I couldn't cope with anymore coriander..I had done my best to avoid but it kept sneaking through. We admitted defeat, finished our Yanping Beer and paid up... An interesting experience but not as good as last nights noodlesMeer informatie

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  • Johanne BrookesReizigerChina 2017

    Bits from yesterday

    6 november 2017, China ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    So these are some bits I had forgotten yesterday. Walking across Tiananmen Sq. with someone distantly playing a Chinese flute - a very distinctive sound. The smell of the nanmu wood used in the buildings, - it repels bugs apparently whilst not bothering humans. A conversation with Nia our guide about the film Peking Opera Blues - which has an LGBT story in it if I remember correctly, she described it as a classic film which cheered me up and then pointed out wistfully two gay men in the crowd in front of us "so good looking but they are gay"...I hadnt clocked them. Good to see at some acceptance here. Also somewhere in the Summer palace amid the cacophony one of those chinese stringed instruments turning a view of the lake into something so perfectly matching my imagination.Meer informatie

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