Beijing

7.6

We left the last part of our retelling in the speed worm leaving the ancient city of Pingyao. We changed worms once and basically flew past large settlements and tall mountains. We arrived in Beijing the capital of the land of dragons and speed worms in the afternoon. Our first quest lead us below ground. Underneath many layers of dirt and rocks another network of worms run. This way we travelled passed half the settlement without seeing anything of it. The facinating network was packed with homosapiens. We emerged at another speed worm meeting point, from there we started the last leg of our journey on foot. Our Inn for the next couple of nights was surprisingly modern. We spend the rest of the afternoon planning our stay in the settlement. The capital of the land of tea ceremonies and tiny cups is large and there were many things we wanted to explore. When the sun had drifted towards the horizon we were driven out of the comfort of our inn by the pressing need for sustenance. Filled by that desire we headed north. Huge blocks of concrete, people were calling home rose towards the sky upon either side of us while fuming contraptions speed past us. In the end we found refuge in a small tavern. With the help of our enchantments we managed to solve the riddle given to us by the barmaid and ordered two different kind of rice dishes. My dear reader, these were the dishes created to quench any desire for food, fill any hobbits stomach and stay in the mind and heart as a gift from heaven. The first one seemed like a simple mixture of tomatoes and egg, but the juicy tomato and the fresh egg created a melody of taste. When the first dish was a melody of taste the second was a symphony. The fried eggplant remided us of the eggplant dishes we had in Aktau and Tbilisi, both of them are beacons in the cloud of food we had on our journey. In short we had great food. I want that to dominate the memories of that day and not our struggle to find adequate information in the here very restricted library of really not all things.

8.6

Before I start the account of our second day in the city of Beijing I want to state my confused relationship with the idea that we are already in the 6th month of this year. On one side the start of this year is already so far away, while simulationsly being close by. As the end of our journey draws nearer my relationship to the general passing of time is obscured. Are we really travelling for more than 8 months by now? It doesn't feel right, but we are not the same Hobbits that set out for Mordor all these months ago. Ok enough of my ramblings.

The 8th day of the 6th month started off great, for our inn had complementary breakfast, we just needed to find it. One of the helpers of the innkeeper gave us a slip of parchment with some writing on it in a language unknown to us and signed unhelpfully in some direction outside. So, we set out in the search of the place that would offer us food. With our brilliant sense of direction we only walked into one wrong place before finding our destination. There we broke our fast on dumplings, fried breadsticks, boiled eggs and rice porridge. Everything was a bit cold but good preparation for a day of explorations. Strengthened we set out into the heart of the city. Our first idea of exploring the Tian'anmen Square were squashed by long queues and very, very confusing directions. Instead we turned north. There lay small alleyways flaked by small traditional stone houses. We passed several temples and ate noodle soup with wontons (recommended to us by a local eating that as well) at a small store. Exhausted from our never-ending fight with our mortal enemy, who is very strong again in this part of the world, we took a small break in front of a large confucian temple, before seeking renewed strength in a magic potion. With the cool liquid in hand we continued our wandering. There we stumbled on the Drum and Bell Tower. The two towers used to be the largest buildings in the city. The sun continued its wandering over the blue canopy above as we passed a small lake and wandered through tiny streets filled with all kind of treasures that were either made by travelling tinkers or dwarves. The way back to our inn way sped up by the wonderful network that is hidden underneath the city. We ate dinner in the tavern next to the place where we broke our fast and then retired to bed.

9.6

This part of this retelling is dedicated to buildings that are unlike anything you can find on this planet, that are a true wonder to behold and people with strange glasses that seemed to have jumped straight out of a cartoon. That day can be considered the most important one in our travels in the land of many people and too complicate writing, for on that day we visited the Great Wall! There are many parts of the Great Wall that can be visited. Most of them are a hassle to get to. So for once we decided to take the comfortable option, at least in our opinion. We managed to join a group going there. The group met next to an exit of the complicated subterranean ways and we quickly acquired some noodles before boarding the shuttle with our fellow explorers. The guy leading the group was a stout local fellow, who would continue talking endlessly if no one interrupted him. He was easily recognizable by his huge bright purple glasses, that made him look like a cartoon character. The two hours it took us to get to the wall we were greatly entertained by his very emotional telling of the origin of the wall and what was the best way to climb it, for the wall is located on top of a mountain range. At the bottom of the wall we gathered in the meeting hub, there we ate our noodles and drank some tea before starting our climb of the wall. We Vista a section of wall with 20 watchtowers being open to the public. Our guide recommended walking either the east or west side of the wall, both of them could be reached by chairlift or if you're fit you can do both and travel down and up again by chairlift. Of course we did neither of these things. We decided to walk up to the wall and ditch the overprices chairlifts and the too long queue that came with them. Our guide had painted a dark image of the ascent by foot dominated by a burning sun and a 45 min climb on all fours up the mountain. We still remember vividly our climb up small Chimgan and Mt Doom, both of them took a lot longer then 45 min, so we were optimistic that we could master this challenge as well. The only issue was the aggressivly burning sun which made us prepare for the worst. Well, all our worries were misplaced. The ascend took us 15 min and one could walk up the stairs on all fours but unlike the climb of Mt. Doom this would only be done for enjoyment not necessity, so we decided against it. To our delight most of the way was also shaded by trees, who are definitely our allies in our fight against our worst enemy. So we reached the top of the wall a lot sooner than anyone else who had journeyed to the wall with us, for they needed to queue for another 45 min. We decided to walk this masterpiece of construction eastwards first. There we could see other watchtowers on the hilltops all the way to the horizon. It was easy to imagine the beacons being lit to quickly spread the news of an attack, just like Gondor once called for aid. It was less easy to imagine this being a "troop-highway" for the wall was not flat but curved up and down with the rise and fall of the mountains beneath it. It was probably still easier to walk over the wall then through the thicket surrounding it. This part of the wall was constructed by the Ming dynasty sometime in the 14th century and the section of the wall that we stood upon was very well renovated. The first person who build parts of the great wall was the dragon emperor, the same one who also ordered the construction of the terracotta warriors more than 2500 years ago. In theory it was built, at least partially, to defend china from the mongols (did not succeed).We walked in the direction of the rising sun until we reached watchtower three and then turned our direction back in the direction of the setting sun. There we walked nearly all the way to watchtower 20, so the eastern and western part of the wall. Up there it seemed ridiculous to go up and down by chairlift instead of just keep walking on the wall. We stopped several times to rest in the cool shade of one of the watchtowers to eat some of the snacks we brought along. The heat of the sun was only broken by these small spots of shade and the occasional wind sweeping past the hilltops. After wandering almost the entire length of the open stretch of wall we started our descent of the mountains. Down we got ourselves two iced lemonades and headed back to the meeting spot of our group. There we talked to several other travellers and then headed back to the city. The ramblings of our guide were only half as interesting on the way back, for he repeated most of what he had said on the way to the wall. Once we reached the city we began our search for dinner and then headed back to our Inn.

10.6

That morning we packed our bags after breakfast, for we needed to change inns. Our initial plan was to leave the city that day. But plans change and we wanted to stay one more night. It would have been very expensive to book one more night in the inn we stayed the first couple of nights, so we grabbed Meeko and Pascal and moved. Our second Inn did not have breakfast but was closer to the city center. From there we explored an old temple, that worshipped old emperors and their ministers. There we learned that the yuan dynasty was the dynasty set up by the Mongols after the conquest of Ghengis Khan and about ministers such as the grand secretary of the grad secretariat, the grand general of overcoming waves and the grand general of overwhelming force. Then we headed into the city past several old buildings and small alleyways. The biggest issue of the day presented itself in form of an ATM. We are very dependent on these but sometimes they can betray one's trust. That one decided to swallow our credit card, this happened to us once before in Malaysia. There we threw a tantrum in the bank for what felt like an hour before someone told us that they had destroyed our card. With that in mind we mentally said goodbye to our credit card and pushed the help button next to the ATM. After a bit of confusion they found someone who spoke English and they told us we could come to the bank early on the following day to pick it up. We were very suspicious about that, but we had another credit card that worked and not too much time left on out travels, so our mood was not damped by this blow of fate. The day ended with Sesy acquiring tickets for the journey on and Artey planning her future.

11.6

Our first quest of the day lead us to the bank. We only had little hope of actually getting our credit card back, but we needed to try anyways. The bank was very modern and we needed to go to a bank anyways to change the last of out Hong Kong Dollars, so we hoped to kill two birds with one stone. With a bit of confusion on everybody's side we got two waiting slips with numbers on them. Artey's mission: to get the credit card back, for it was the one in her name. The poor lady behind the counter did not speak any English and was very confused by Arteys passport, but she actually had our credit card. After getting help of two other workers we actually got our credit card back!! Simultaneously Sesy went to another worker in order to change the remainder of the Hong Kong Dollars. Surprisingly the worker spoke excellent English, but had nothing helpful to say. In order to change money there, one needs to become a member at the bank which takes ages to do. We had better things to do that day so we left with the Hong Kong Dollers and our credit card and set out to the forbidden city. The forbidden city is a large palace complex build in the Ming and Qing dynasties (the last two chinese dynasties). It is a labyrinth of courtyards and golden roofed buildings. It was very impressive to see. I must confess that we probably would have enjoyed our time there even more if it was a bit cooler. With little shade there was no escape from the burning sun and no breeze lost its way into the heart of Beijing. Thanks to our time in south east Asia we have gotten used to temperatures of 30 °C a bit more, but we are not built to walk around in 38-40 °C. With a lot of snacks, wetting our bandanas in the bathroom sinks and revive (electrolyte-sports drink) we managed to keep our circulative system somewhat running, meaning we did not pass out. After several hours of wandering and trying not to die from a heat stroke we left the forbidden city in search of ice cream or a cold drink. In the afternoon we returned to our inn, grabbed our bags and left for the railway station and our next adventure.