Beijing - 北京

Dutch people, Dutch people everywhere... And not just in our compartment of the train that was heading towards China... The whole carriage was full of a group of Dutch tourists who were clearly excited to meet their neighbors, us Germans. Although the Dutch were mostly nice, Tom and I had to remind ourselves more often than usual that the person opposite us could understand a few words of our language, which we didn't have to worry about on our previous trip.

After 13 hours of travel, we finally reached something that we had been looking forward to for a long time, but also wanted to leave behind quickly: the border of China.

But unfortunately, there was no "leaving it behind quickly" because the Chinese state apparently deemed it necessary to lock incoming passengers in a waiting hall without sufficient seating for six hours after passport and multiple luggage checks. But we didn't let it ruin our night and chatted with another German family over a few beers, wine, and vodka. We talked, among other things, about theater and school theater in particular, where I expressed some critical opinions, possibly even slightly offensive, about theater in state schools (of course, always in comparison to the great school theater of Waldorf School RSSW). It later turned out that the mother of the family taught theater at a state school... a brief embarrassing moment followed, but alcohol and other conversation partners quickly made it disappear. We also met our friends, the New Zealanders Donna-Marie and Andrew, whom we had also met in Ulan Bator. At 3 o'clock in the morning, we finally got back on the train.

The sight that greeted us the next morning was breathtakingly beautiful. Fairy-tale mountain landscapes flew past our window, dotted with villages nestled against steep mountainsides above green-turquoise rivers.

As the mountains slowly became lower, we got a taste of China's almost perfect infrastructure and industry in the northeast of the country. Just like on later train rides, we could admire huge industrial plants, coal-fired power plants, and highways from the train, which made Germany look quite old. The network coverage in China could also make you think that we Germans are still living in the Stone Age - every 300 meters, you could see a mobile phone mast - not pretty, but effective. The description "not pretty, but effective" also applies to the towering skyscrapers, which grew exponentially in number and size the closer you got to a big city.

Beijing - a city full of people, historical buildings, and little space. However, Beijing is not, as I had assumed, constantly overcrowded or particularly noisy. In the many Hutong areas, the houses are low, the alleys are narrow, and it is quiet. You could almost think you were in a village or a small town. The food is very good, cheap, and always perfectly seasoned. Public transportation in Beijing, as well as in Shanghai, is very orderly and, in my opinion, easier to use than the subway system in Germany. There is no confusing selection of 30 different tickets, it is always clear where you need to go to reach your destination, and there are no traffic jams due to clever routing. There are no delays, construction sites, or cancellations. Especially on the metro, you get very close to the Chinese people, or rather the Chinese get very close to your armpit. The size difference between us (Tom and me) and the Chinese is enormous - enormously practical: you always have a good view, you always breathe the best air, you don't have to stretch to take a good photo, and even in large crowds, I always found my little Tömmy. Even though the Chinese always have a certain distance from you due to their size, they like to approach you, touch you here and there, and sometimes even push you away. Respect, sense of shame, table manners, and privacy are not particularly important in China (especially compared to Germany). On the other hand, the Chinese approach things very rationally and practically and don't get upset easily. This description of the Chinese may sound a bit cold and harsh at first, but it's not like that at all, as there is a general tolerance that makes life in China much simpler and more relaxed than in Europe. However, this is not all that defines the people here. Many are friendly, accommodating, and helpful as soon as you interact with them.

If you want to feel like a star, crave attention, are tall, and have fair skin and hair color - then come to China! As soon as this external description applies to you, as it does to Tom and me, you will be constantly stared at, photographed, or asked for photos wherever you are. When Tom and I once took the trouble to count how many people wanted to take a photo with us, we counted 30 people within two hours (such an influx is, of course, understandable with both of us charming gentlemen). It wasn't uncommon to wait in line either.

During our time in Beijing, we visited many temples, overpriced parks, caught a glimpse of the Forbidden City (where 50,000 people were bustling), and walked a lot in the city. One thing that we couldn't miss during our visit to Beijing was a visit to the city's two biggest fake markets - Silk Street and Pearl Market. I shopped diligently and stayed tough during price negotiations, to the point where I could even bring down the price to 2.5% of the initial price. With increasing pleasure in bargaining, which sometimes resulted in heated discussions, and the amusement of the sometimes bad, sometimes deceptively real fakes, Tom and I forgot about the time between Gucci handbags and Adidas sandals and spent almost a whole day there.

Although everything had gone smoothly up to this point, this was about to change. Since in China, payment is either in cash or digital (only possible with a Chinese bank account), we were dependent on ATMs. The problem was that very, very few ATMs accepted credit cards, which led to hours of searching. The whole situation escalated when a malicious ATM unjustifiably swallowed Tom's credit card. In addition, this event was overshadowed by a little mishap that happened at night after a nice party date night. I had arranged to meet Samantha, a nice Chinese girl, at a bar, and since we got along very well, we went to a club where I, the European, and my companion had free admission, free drinks, and a place in the VIP lounge. The evening was perfect until I received a free drink. Even though I didn't take my eyes off my drink, someone managed to mix a few knockout drops, drugs, or something similar into my drink. I barely made it out of the club before I passed out. That night, I lost my phone, Samantha, a pair of sunglasses, and some of my memories. The next morning at 9 o'clock, completely exhausted, I reached our hostel and slept through the day.

Instead of the planned trip to the Great Wall as the conclusion of our stay in Beijing, we spent the day trying to save Tom's credit card and looking for an electronics store to buy a new phone. Unfortunately, the search for the electronics store was unsuccessful (apparently, the Chinese buy everything online), but after days of waiting, Tom's card was finally recovered.