Beijing - we like

First of all: we have arrived well, not just landed, but really arrived.

Before our stay in China, we talked to some people who have been here before (mostly for work) and who warned us about soooo many things. Starting with the unfriendliness of the Chinese people, weird food, general communication problems, and so on. So far, none of these have been a problem. First and foremost, because we had our friend Max as a local guide :-) who made the start much easier for us, and secondly, because there is the internet. Well, a bit restricted, no Facebook, Youtube, Google, etc. which at first caused a short shock, especially Google including Google Maps. But as with many other things (e.g. toilets), you have to step out of your comfort zone (literally in this case...) and then there is always a solution.

Online bookings for hostels, train tickets, etc. all no problem, and for the rest, we had Max and his Chinese girlfriend Siwen with us in the first few days. Both of them took us through the Sanlitun neighborhood (a relatively modern neighborhood in Beijing) to shopping malls, fake and food markets, bars, restaurants, and to some places where we might not have ended up as tourists.

Once again, a big thank you to both of you for being so hospitable and taking the time for us, and for being our private guides. (Siwen, thank you very much for the sensational local and food selection, everything was always super delicious)

We saved the full tourist experience for Sunday when we were allowed to join the travel group of Simi and Tobi for a day. They are currently on a guided three-week tour through China. A very nice group with 2 funny tour guides.

The meeting point was Tiananmen Square (I guess I don't have to mention how lucky it is to find yourself in a square where thousands of tourists and tourist groups gather / hello crowd!!!) with Mao's Mausoleum, which we decided to skip. (There are more important and beautiful things in life ;-) )

We then headed towards the Forbidden City, absolutely impressive!!! The size, the architecture, especially considering the time it was built..... Our tour guide also told us little anecdotes about the history: for example, the emperor had about 9000 concubines and was served numerous dishes every day, but he was not allowed to sleep with the same woman on two consecutive days ('no matter how good she was' according to the tour guide ;-) ) or take the chopsticks from the same dish more than 3 times. Even the emperor should not be allowed to do everything!

Before heading to the Great Wall, we made a photo stop at the Olympic Park from 2008. It was also nice, but compared to the Forbidden City......

We still had a good hour on the bus until we arrived at the Great Wall.

Unfortunately, smog (and fog?) affected the visibility more strongly, but it was still very impressive. It was not easy to walk, very steep, sometimes with stairs, sometimes just steep uphill, but of course, it is a must on every trip to China.

Finally, we had dinner with the whole group at a Chinese restaurant and then had a drink with Simi, Tobi, Lisa, and Bernhard (a nice couple from the travel group) at the hotel bar. Greetings to all of you from here, it was an amazing day with you, thank you very much for everything, we had a lot of fun spending a day with you. Wish you continued fun and a great trip.

As beautiful as the day was, it was also exhausting, and my foot thanked me with a slight swelling in the evening. (

Since Monday was forecasted to be rainy all day anyway, we decided to take a day off to plan and book Shanghai (train, hostel, etc.).

So, no problem at all, especially since we only had a goodbye dinner with Siwen and Max in the evening and, of course, said goodbye. :-(

Goodbye Beijing and Hi Shanghai

P.s. even though the houses, power lines, etc. may not meet German standards, we are miles away from the cleanliness of the streets and sidewalks in Germany.