RS often ridicules that no one will believe he has been to Beijing. He not only missed China's national dish, he didn't even visit the Great Wall! My bad. I was such a lousy host back then. So the next thing we did in Beijing was to charge to the Great Wall!
So many sections which to choose? I decided on Jiankou located in Huairou district 73km north of Beijing.
I visited Badaling and Juyongguan several years ago but it was only at collapsing Jiankou I really start to take in the majesty of the Great Wall.
I enjoyed climbing on the ruins but not these creepy-crawlies!
Most of the walk involves crashing through thick vegetation. That's me disappearing into the bushes as crickets buzzed and creaked.
再也没有遗憾的好汉!
He didn't want to continue anymore and since there wasn't enough time to visit the dangerous stairs and main watch towers, we made our way down...(disappointed)
Last glimpse of the steep and jagged mountains~
We stretched our sore limbs while watching the Olympics at Zhao's. I was about to fall asleep (the tv had no sound) when we heard sounds of gun shots. I pulled open the curtains to see what's going on and BANG! a huge firework exploded right in front of my eyes! I thought I was gonna be shot dead man. That was the best and biggest firework display I have ever seen!
So many sections which to choose? I decided on Jiankou located in Huairou district 73km north of Beijing.
I visited Badaling and Juyongguan several years ago but it was only at collapsing Jiankou I really start to take in the majesty of the Great Wall.
I enjoyed climbing on the ruins but not these creepy-crawlies!
Most of the walk involves crashing through thick vegetation. That's me disappearing into the bushes as crickets buzzed and creaked.
再也没有遗憾的好汉!
He didn't want to continue anymore and since there wasn't enough time to visit the dangerous stairs and main watch towers, we made our way down...(disappointed)
Last glimpse of the steep and jagged mountains~
We stretched our sore limbs while watching the Olympics at Zhao's. I was about to fall asleep (the tv had no sound) when we heard sounds of gun shots. I pulled open the curtains to see what's going on and BANG! a huge firework exploded right in front of my eyes! I thought I was gonna be shot dead man. That was the best and biggest firework display I have ever seen!
Admission fee: Unlike other sections of the Great Wall in Beijing, there is no admission fee to Jiankou (hooray!) but there is 20 yuan pp entrance fee to Xizhazi village. It is possible to climb Jiankou without entering the village. We have seen locals entering the site via a hidden "carpark" for their evening exercises.
Transport: It is possible to get to Jiankou by public transport from Beijing. From Huairou to Jiankou, there is a public bus which runs twice daily from Yujiayuan (near Huairou bus terminal) to Xizhazi but the timings were not favourable as we were pressed for time so we took private transport. The market rate was around 200 yuan return. No drivers agreed on 100 yuan for one way trip because they need to spend on petrol to return to Huairou. We bargained hard from 200 to 120 yuan for a one way trip. I promised the driver I will post his contact number here if you need a ride try calling Mr Zhao (not related to Zhao homestay) 13241506000.
Four years ago, two scrooges were wandering in Wangfujing and stopped outside Quanjude, the most famous Peking duck restaurant in China. As they didn't have much money, they could only take a photo of its grand exterior and packet a duck back from the supermarket. He has been nagging about missing out on China's national dish ever since. So the first thing we did in Beijing was none other than feast on roast duck! Since we were staying in Dongzhimen and we were starving, we walked into Huajiayiyuan and ordered a half duck (118 yuan in August 2012). Their roast duck is served with a new twist. Other than the conventional spring onion and cucumber sticks, shredded lettuce and fruit sticks such as pineapple, cantaloupe, hawthorn, etc are included too. Wrap everything together with the special wasabi-mustard sauce and you taste an explosion of flavours. Awesome!
I took a good look around the airport. It still looks the same as I had remembered it. The last time both of us were here was the day he went back to Taipei. As I watched him walked down the long hallway and disappeared from my sight, I left, my face wet with tears...
It feels a little surreal we are back here again together. We cleared customs and searched for the airport express. During my time here, there was no airport express, only airport shuttle bus. At the ticket counter, I handed over a bag of coins, extremely satisfied I had gotten rid of 50 yuan worth of shillings on the first day.
"欢迎您乘搭机场快轨 本次列车开往东直门..."
I'm back.
I'm really back in Beijing after four years.
It feels a little surreal we are back here again together. We cleared customs and searched for the airport express. During my time here, there was no airport express, only airport shuttle bus. At the ticket counter, I handed over a bag of coins, extremely satisfied I had gotten rid of 50 yuan worth of shillings on the first day.
"欢迎您乘搭机场快轨 本次列车开往东直门..."
I'm back.
I'm really back in Beijing after four years.
Since we had visited most of the sights in town and there wasn't any other places we wanted to check out, we took the opportunity to exercise in Melaka, in preparation for our next journey. Just nice Rooftop Guesthouse is located near the river too. We ran for as long as we could while taking in the clean air and pleasant surroundings. Now I kinda understand why expats enjoy exercising along the Singapore River...
