Week 2 - Beijing and the Great Wall, China

On Monday, we took the high-speed train to Beijing.

ZDF: 

• Duration: 4:30 h
• Distance: 1200 km
• Top speed: 350 km/h
• Cost: 82 Euros

The process at the main train station is similar to that at an airport. There is a large waiting hall, and 30 minutes before departure, the gate opens, and you must go through an ID check. However, since you have a seat reservation, there’s no need to rush. The Chinese, however, see it differently and push forward regardless.

After a relaxed journey, we arrive in Beijing. 

We started Tuesday morning at the Drum Tower. The view was modest, but the drummers were really cool. Afterwards, we walked through a typical Beijing neighborhood to the Lama Temple.

On Tuesday afternoon, we went straight to the one reason why we traveled to Beijing: we wanted to see the Great Wall. From Beijing, you can reach the Mutianyu section by public transport in 2 hours.

So far, everything worked out, except for the scanning to check in and out on the bus for calculating the travel costs—it didn't go well. Riding without a ticket in China does not feel good, and we anticipated a few hours with an arrest. 😀

Our homestay in Mutianyu was really great. The host even cooked extra for us in the evening because all the restaurants had already closed.

On Wednesday, the time finally came, and we visited the Great Wall. We left early to escape the crowds. That was definitely the right decision. Crowds in China have a whole different dimension.

Walking on the Great Wall was truly beautiful. The surroundings in Mutianyu are also really nice, making the overall picture just perfect. You can walk along the wall for a total of 3 km. The wall is constantly being restored here. Outside of the accessible sections, the wall has fallen into disrepair. Considering how old the wall is, this doesn't surprise us.

The Great Wall has a total length of 21,196 km, but it is not continuous.

This is a day we will definitely not forget in our lives. 

For Thursday, Julian planned a packed schedule for Beijing. We were at Tian'anmen Square by 8 a.m.

The controls in Beijing, especially at this square, are insane. Your ID is constantly being checked, and sometimes your luggage is scanned. It’s not entirely clear to us why the checks every few hundred meters are considered necessary. This creates constant congestion on the sidewalks, and you definitely need to plan for more time.

The square, covering 39.6 hectares, is often referred to as the largest enclosed square in the world.

In 1949, Chairman Mao announced the founding of the People's Republic of China here.

The square has significant historical importance, but to be honest, it's not particularly beautiful. 😀

Afterward, we headed to the Forbidden City. This is a palace complex in the center of Beijing. The Chinese emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived and ruled here until the 1911 revolution. Access was forbidden to the general public, which is how the name originated.

The Forbidden City is beautiful, but to be honest, it didn't really impress us. Most halls are not accessible, and you walk under the blazing sun across the various courtyards. However, the halls themselves are nice to look at.

Next, we went to a viewpoint from where you can get a particularly good view over the Forbidden City. It was here that the scale really became clear to us.

As if that wasn’t enough, we continued to the Temple of Heaven Park. This 'park' wasn’t quite to our taste either. Most of it was paved. The term park doesn’t really do it justice. On maps, this area appears entirely green, but the reality is definitely different.

However, the dinner compensated for a lot. Julian found a vegan restaurant. It turned out to be a vegan all-you-can-eat buffet for about 10 euros per person. Luckily, Julian still had enough room in his stomach after his offal dish to eat heartily here.

Friday was our rest day; we took the high-speed train back to Shanghai.

Our tour guide Felix had planned an outing for Saturday. We took the train to Hangzhou. Here lies the most famous excursion destination near Shanghai: West Lake.

And there were just as many people as we expected. We were slowly getting used to the continuously large crowds.

The lake was beautifully landscaped with walking paths, bridges, shops, etc. The view of the mountains in the background made us briefly forget the many people.

You could easily spend several days in the city and by the lake. 

Our conclusion about China: Good food (also vegetarian has always been relatively easy), incredibly many people, everything is cashless, mobile phone is essential, Shanghai feels more Western, Beijing very Chinese, nice and helpful people, good possible even without Chinese, very good price-performance ratio.