So things got a little messy the night we ended up at Adam’s
and Vics. But, we still had one more day of sightseeing in Beijing to get through before heading to our respective cities. The day began
with a visit to Beijing’s National Museum - which was huge. It was probably a
good thing that we could just wander each exhibit in our own time because most
of us felt quite fragile from lack of sleep. It wasn’t really anything to rave
about, but nice to find out a little bit about China’s history and see some antique artefacts. Later we went to the Temple of Heaven but admittedly, I wasn't feeling up for exploring the grounds. The lack of sleep was starting to kick in, unhelped by the hot weather.
Arriving back at the hotel accommodation, we were given schedules for times we were expected to depart on coaches the following morning to catch trains to our cities. Most of us weren't too pleased by the 6am departure times but I suppose being able to say goodbye to the majority of the gang at the train station all at once was a plus.
We'd decided to have one last night together visiting some of the famous hutongs (alleyways) in Beijing and having a quiet drink. It was nice to browse some of the shops for some souvenirs. I'd even treated myself to a clip-in hair flower accessory to keep up with the latest Chinese fashion trends (more on this in later posts).
We had a bit of a nightmare hailing taxis to take us back to the accommodation. Drivers would either refuse because they insisted we were on the wrong side of the road or because they had absolutely no idea where it was. The concept of a queue is also pretty much non-existent in China too, so we'd often get close to flagging a taxi down before some other random people jumped in before us. It was frustrating to say the least that our 'quiet final night out' ended with us getting back later than intended having spent an hour trying to get taxis.
Still, I look back on the time in Beijing really fondly. Even now, two months into living in China, Mentougou training camp and the people I spent those intense first two weeks with hold a special place in my memory. I even miss it a little from time to time. It really was a great way to start this China experience. Instead of ending this post on a bum note, here's a photo of one of the leaving cards I received from students during the training camp. I think it summarises my time in Beijing well, and set the tone for what I was about to embark on as I moved onto Tianjin:
Arriving back at the hotel accommodation, we were given schedules for times we were expected to depart on coaches the following morning to catch trains to our cities. Most of us weren't too pleased by the 6am departure times but I suppose being able to say goodbye to the majority of the gang at the train station all at once was a plus.
We'd decided to have one last night together visiting some of the famous hutongs (alleyways) in Beijing and having a quiet drink. It was nice to browse some of the shops for some souvenirs. I'd even treated myself to a clip-in hair flower accessory to keep up with the latest Chinese fashion trends (more on this in later posts).
We had a bit of a nightmare hailing taxis to take us back to the accommodation. Drivers would either refuse because they insisted we were on the wrong side of the road or because they had absolutely no idea where it was. The concept of a queue is also pretty much non-existent in China too, so we'd often get close to flagging a taxi down before some other random people jumped in before us. It was frustrating to say the least that our 'quiet final night out' ended with us getting back later than intended having spent an hour trying to get taxis.
Still, I look back on the time in Beijing really fondly. Even now, two months into living in China, Mentougou training camp and the people I spent those intense first two weeks with hold a special place in my memory. I even miss it a little from time to time. It really was a great way to start this China experience. Instead of ending this post on a bum note, here's a photo of one of the leaving cards I received from students during the training camp. I think it summarises my time in Beijing well, and set the tone for what I was about to embark on as I moved onto Tianjin:
Cheers Shirley! Who doesn't love being told they have a childlike innocent heart and sweet smile?
No comments
Post a Comment