Sophistivacation

The previous night, Tony told us we were meeting at 6am the next morning so it was an early bed for us. I was up at 4.45am to shower and finish packing before checking out of our hotel room; I ’m really not a morning person! It was so early, we left before the hotel breakfast had even opened but we were given a box with a boiled egg, bread, a roll, water, milk and a chocolate bar; i`m sure you can guess what I ate! It took an hour to get to the airport to catch our China Eastern flight to Xi`an but check-in and security were reasonably quick given that there were 30 of us! Our flight left at 8.40am, arriving in Xi`an at 10am. We got a breakfast on the flight which was as equally unappetising (rice porridge! Ugh!) but thankfully our resaurant meals have all been top notch. On arrival in Xi`an, we were met by our new local guide, Amanda. She told us a little bit about the city as we headed to a restaurant for lunch; I know what your thinking, all we do is eat! That has pretty much been t...

Our first stop was the Jade gallery; Jade is considered the Chinese diamond and comes in 36 different colours, not just green. We were given a short introduction by a girl named Ida; she liked to speak in the third person and was pretty terrifying. We got to look about the factory and had the opportunity to buy something; green is not really my colour though! After an hour or so, we had another Chinese lunch; I have a feeling I am going to come back about a stone heavier! Tony chooses various dishes and we get to try around 10 different options every meal as well as the obligatory rice accompaniment. After lunch, it was back to the bus and around an hours drive to the Summer Palace. On the way, Lili was telling us lots of stories. She passed around her phone with a picture of her and one of the people she had taken to the Great Wall; it was Tom Cruise! She was also telling us about her family and particularly her husband, who is apparently not very handsome (she doesn’t have to worry a...

It was an early rise this morning, 5.45pm to be precise! Our guide told us that it’s best to get to the wall early for two reasons; firstly, the number of tourists and secondly, the heat! We had a really quick breakfast and left the hotel at 7am. It was an hours drive to the wall and on the way we stopped off to see the Birds Nest stadium and Water Cube; both were built for the Olympics in 2008 and they look pretty cool. Unfortunately, there was a dust storm from the Gobi Desert in the city this morning so we didn’t get good pictures. The AQI Index which I mentioned previously was at 500 (out of 500) today, meaning hazardous! Thankfully, it was to clear as we left the city. After the stadium photo opportunity, we got back on the bus and headed towards the section of the wall we were to climb. On the way, we were told the history behind it (it was built to keep the mongols out!) and loads of other interesting facts about Beijing. On a Monday, cars with registration plates that end in th...

It’s only 4pm on the first day of our tour and it has been pretty much non-stop. We had breakfast in the hotel before meeting the tour group at 8am in the lobby; breakfast was decent and a mix of Chinese and western food although I wasn’t particularly hungry after eating so much last night. Our first stop was Tiananmen Square; it was only a 5 minute bus journey from the hotel but given it was 9am and 27 degrees, we were delighted. Before we left the hotel, we were given an introduction to the tour by Tony; he set out some ground rules around punctuality (one couple turned up a few minutes late!) and other bits and bobs including some Chinese phrases:  nǐ hǎo - hello nǐ hǎo, ma? - how are you? ding ding hǎo - very very good/thumbs up! After the 40 minute intro, we met our local guide, Lili (Li means `beautiful`, and she made a point about what her name means!), who will be taking us around Beijing for the next few days. She seems slightly mental but lots of fun. She warned us not to...

It’s now Saturday morning and we have just arrived at the Qianmen JianGao Hotel in downtown Beijing; it was only 12 hours ago that we left Amsterdam and descended upon a very smoggy and apparently “unhealthy” Beijing (according to the AQI - Air Quality Index). Our flight to Beijing was much better than expected as China Southern upgraded us to Premium Economy so we had lots of room and reclining seats. The meals were either Chinese Style (Beef and Rice for Dinner, Noodles and Chicken for breakfast) or Western Style (Chicken and potatoes for dinner and sausages and egg for breakfast). I spent the flight watching Black Panther and reading a bit more of the book “Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China,” a book by Jung Chang.  We arrived at Beijing airport on time and passed through passport control reasonably quickly, although providing our fingerprints twice seemed a bit excessive. The tour company we booked with, Wendy Wu, was providing all transport so we went to the arrivals hall to...

Hello Beijing! At least that’s what I think it says...... It’s back to business, and about time too. For those of you that know me, it’s been a long time since my last holiday; 8 months to be precise! Not that I`m counting...... We left Edinburgh this morning, it was glorious sunshine and the bridges looked fantastic; we even saw Longniddry (where I used to live) from the air. I’m currently sitting in Amsterdam airport, on my second pint of Heineken, pondering our return to Beijing. On our last trip, we only spent a few days in the city and didn’t go to any of the well-known tourist spots, that’s soon to change. Only 15 minutes until boarding so I better drink up..........See you soon!