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| THE GREAT WALL AT JINSHANLING |
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| LOOKING WEST ALONG THE GREAT WALL AT JINSHANLING |
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| 'HALL OF SUPREME HARMONY' INSIDE THE FORBIDDEN CITY |
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| MALE LION GUARDING ENTRANCE |
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| TEMPLE OF HEAVEN IN BACKGROUND |
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| THE 'TOWER OF FRAGRANCE OF BUDDHA' AT THE SUMMER PALACE |
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| OUR GUIDE SHUSHAN WITH RUBI |
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| SUZHOU STREET |
Monday started well enough. As expected, we were picked up by the young Chinese guide at 6.00am for our organised trip to the Great Wall at Jinshanling
A lot of people were joining this tour so there was quite a bit of driving around Beijing in heavy traffic to pick them up. However, there was some fuss when one participant apparently lost their smartphone, and I was sure that we spent half and hour driving in a loop around the same bit of road twice.
Eventually we headed out to the city and after a couple of hours arrived at a large car park for the Great Wall where everyone alighted. It turned out that this was the Simatai section of the Great Wall where only some passengers from our coach, and another one which the guide was apparently responsible for, were meant to be dropped off. The rest of us were ushered back onto the coach (well, rudely shouted at really) where we proceeded to wait for 40 minutes while the guide got tickets for the Simatai group.
The residue of the passengers from the other coach then joined us for a further drive to the Jinshanling section of the wall. At this point the young guide, who went by the western name Diana, burst into tears and started loudly apologising and explaining that the tour company treated her like a horse. Had we been in Japan, her shrill wailing would have made us wonder if she was just about to commit ritual suicide, harakiri style. Fortunately no blood was spilt here - just endless apologies until we were weary of hearing them.
We had chosen Jinshanling because it is reputed to be the most beautiful section of the wall, combining original and renovated parts in a wonderful hill setting, and with fewer crowds because it is further out from Beijing. On that score we were not disappointed, but the advertised two and a half hour journey there had morphed into six hours.
We had a lovely three hour hike visiting 15 watchtowers along the wall. Many parts were challengingly steep, and it was clear that the soldiers who would have served here must have been very fit. Finally we reached the Five Window tower, the highest watchtower on this section, before heading back down to the coach.
We were then driven a short way to a restaurant for a very good Chinese-style late lunch before making our way back to Beijing. The fun started again on the outskirts of Beijing where Diana tried to persuade passengers that because the traffic was so heavy it was better for folk to get off here and use the Metro to get back to their hotels. Many did get off but we and several others stuck to our guns and insisted that the company fulfil their obligation. Grudgingly, and after a vehicle change, we ended up at Qainmen, which was good enough.
On spite of the appalling tour management we had enjoyed walking on a lovely part of the wall. To finish the evening off we found an excellent restaurant recommended by the girl in the Laoshe Tea House and enjoyed dumplings and chillied pigs liver with vegetables.
We had a tour booked to see the Forbidden City the next day. Of course, lightning does not strike twice in the same place, so as we waited for our coach pick-up, we knew we would have a well-organised, enjoyable and care-free day. Wrong!
No coach arrived, and when we phoned the tour office we were told that they had made a mistake there was no tour planned today. However, they would arrange for a taxi with a personal guide would come and pick us up in half an hour and give us a personal tour. Eventually, after 45 minutes, a chain smoking Mongolian approached us, but there was no taxi. This he now had to call, which was another half hour wait. We were then driven to a place which was clearly not on the way to the Forbidden City where he got out, saying he had to deal with something, and instructed the taxi driver to drop us yet somewhere else. The taxi driver did not seem to have a clue where we should be next, and simply ejected us amongst a load of tour busses near to the Forbidden City. At this point, having already wasted almost three hours, we gave up and phoned the booking office to tell them that we would be doing our own thing
Fortunately there was practically no wait to get tickets for the Forbidden City (although we had to show our passports to get them) and entry was quick (although we were required to put our bags through the x-ray scanners again).
The enclosed city, which was the Imperial Palace of Emperors from the Ming to the end of Qing dynasty (1420-1912), and could only be entered with their permission, was both huge and impressive. The buildings were all designed according to a uniform traditional style and had names like 'Hall of Martial Valour' and 'Hall of Supreme Harmony'. There was also the lovely 'Garden of Benevolent Tranquility' and exhibitions of art, treasure and artefacts. We took lots of pictures.
On exiting by the North 'Gate of Divine Prowess' we caught a bus which took us to the Temple of Heaven in Tiantan Park. We didn't go in as just seeing the outside of this impressive circular temple with its three-tiered roof was enough.
Buy the time we got back to our hotel we were exhausted again, but pleased that we had rescued the day from the incompetence of the bus tour company.
Wednesday 30th, our final day in Beijing, started with a visit to the Beijing Tourist Office where we had paid for the guided tour we were supposed to have had the previous day. We were greeted by Joy, who was expecting us and spoke good English. Joy was full of apologies and handed over her phone to Rubi to explain the problem to the chain-smoking Mongolian tour guide. Rubi ranted down the phone at him in double-speed Chinese (which sounded terrifying) while I calmly explained to Joy that when you cock things up, the honourable thing to do is give the money back. The two-pronged attack worked and we were reimbursed, but we both had the feeling that the money might have come out of Joy's pocket for now. We parted with a handshake and a hug.
Next, we took a journey on the Metro to the outskirts of Beijing to visit the Summer Palace, the summer retreat of the Qing Emperors of China and in particular the Empress Dowager Cixi.
A young tour guide named Shushan approached us near the entrance and offered to guide us through the grounds. She was so charming and her price was reasonable so we accepted. We were pleased we had because she explained so much as we walked through the grounds of the Palace, which included within its boundaries the huge man-made Lake Kunming and a mountain built from the spoil from the lake.
The Palace comprised many buildings for different purposes and an impressive Buddhist temple built on the mountainside. It was, without doubt, more impressive than the Forbidden City and the most amazingly beautiful place we had visited so far.
After returning to our hotel to pick up our bags, we stocked up with food and headed to Beijing West Railway Station. We were booked on the overnight sleeper to Xi'an.