25. Tag: Peking

Yesterday we arrived at the last stop of our trip: Beijing.

The border crossing was the most exhausting part of the whole journey. Because at 9 pm, everyone had to leave the train with their luggage to go through passport and baggage control. We were only allowed back on the train around 1:00 am and finally departed at 2:00 am. In the meantime, we met a couple from Ulm, which made a part of the waiting time more bearable.

When we arrived in Beijing and after checking in at the hotel, we wanted to withdraw some money, which turned out not to be so easy. It was only at the 4th ATM that the withdrawal worked. And in this bank, we also met the two people from Ulm again - Nicole and Kilian. From there, however, our paths separated again.

With a little cash in our pockets, we walked towards the Forbidden City. The next goal was to get a SIM card. Finding a cell phone shop in Beijing without internet is indeed a challenge, especially when Google Maps is forbidden. And for this reason, the cell phone shop was already closed when we finally arrived there.

Since it was already late, we just ate and rested at the hotel.

Today we got up early, because we bought tickets for the Temple of Heaven online. After a huge breakfast (really a huge selection!), we went in search of a SIM card again. A documentary happened to be filmed in the cell phone shop, and so we were simply captured on camera. While we took care of the paperwork, a woman from the film crew approached us and asked if we could give her an interview. She spoke German quite well because she studied in Cologne for 5 years, as she told us. So we answered a few questions and asked when the documentary would be aired. So, we will be on Chinese state television in October ;)

Hopefully, we didn't say anything wrong.

After that, we took the subway to the Temple of Heaven. The grounds are very large, beautiful, and just overcrowded!

The Chinese also don't seem to have seen foreigners too often because we have already been approached for the second time to take a picture with us. Additionally, we are almost stared at by everyone. It's kind of strange.

After the Temple of Heaven, we strolled through a pedestrian zone and then ate Peking duck. Very delicious!

After the hot day, where we walked a lot again, we are just resting at the hotel.