North to Beijing

Nov 6 

We have another early morning, with a 5:30 alarm time.  I am too excited to sleep anyways.  At 7 am Bruce Lee takes us back to the ShangHai HongQiao train station. Sid and I are taking the 9 am high speed train traveling to Beijing, it is a 5 hour ride, stopping once at Nanjing.  We are in Beijing for 3 nights.  

As an FYI, we have experienced a considerable increase in security at the train stations in China, compared to our European adventure.   

Everyone tells us how cold it will be in Beijing, especially at the Wall,  I happily have an opportunity wear my new down filled winter coat!

We watch the countryside of China unfold - rice fields, many garden looking plots - and countless cotton fields, with Chinese people laboriously picking cotton...for our ribbons and bows...

Many times I have asked myself - is it true - are we really here, in China, really??

It is noteworthy that all of the Beijing portion of this trip has been coordinated by Peter & Gerald and their colleagues, a detail that we are immeasurably thankful for.  We have even been provided with a cell phone with contacts should we find ourselves in a situation requiring guidance.

Once we get to Beijing, by some small miracle,  we are met by a tour guide, LiNa, her apprentice Ling, and a driver Xing, who will be looking after Sid and I for 4 days.

 This is our itinerary for today:

Arrive in Beijing train station at 2 pm. 

  Arrive at Chateau Oak at 3 pm, rest until 4 pm. 

  Shopping at the WangFujing mall until 6 pm followed dinner of Donglaishun Hot pot.

  LiNa (on the right) is 27 years old and has a degree from the university in the province on Henan, where she studied Tourism, English and Chinese History and Culture.  She is a sweet girl and we love her already!  She said university students in China must pass an English exam to gain admission, now English is mandatory in kindergarden.  She goes on to say students are often able to read and write English before they can speak it because they have little opportunity to apply the spoken language.

She tells us there are 56 ethnic groups in China, with 53 languages and 23 written languages. Mandarin, from the Han ethnic group, represents the majority of the spoken tongue in China.

Beijing is the third largest city in China,with a population of 20 million, behind Guangzhou, population 31 million and Shanghai, population 23 million.

At the restaurant

we have Hot Pot. Hot Pot is a dinner usually only eaten with close family members.  LiNa tells us this is the first time she has had Hot Pot with one of her customers. The Hot Pot

is a broth in a large bowl that is kept hot by coals (in the center metal thing).  From the menu we chose lamb, beef, shrimp dumplings, vegetables and mushrooms to add to the broth.  By now we are able to clumsily maneuver food with our chopsticks.  And we are beginning to speak Mandarin! (next post)