Catching a Train in China!

When we were buying train tickets the book again became very useful, we would push it over the counter and point at the exact phrase we were wanting to use. Eventually we’d always get our tickets. On several occasions we asked the hostel staff to write down which train we wanted to get, the class, and time of departure. Only once did we have to go back to the hostel and change what we were trying to do.
There is an amazing rail network to discover when traveling to China, which is by far more environmentally-friendly than internal flights, and although you may find yourself sitting or lying down on a train for 17 hours, the views are of very rewarding, the company can be fun and interesting and we always found that the locals wanted to chat or offer food even though the language barrier was so evident. Hand gestures and eye contact can go a long way!
 It's cheaper to get a top bunk (3rd bed up) on a sleeper train, but make sure you watch your head!

China Travel 2 Stinky Tofu

We did find a great vegetarian restaurant in Beijing at the bottom of Hou Hai lake but many street food vendors sell meat based buns and snacks, however the sugary fruit on a stick is quite a good little snack and not as sugary as it looks! As we travelled south we came across stinky tofu, this you can smell way down the street before you even pass it – not sure it’s for everyone and the smell was too off-putting for us to try!

You can also get a variety of beers and spirits to compliment your meal.
We found a mandarin phrasebook for £5 whilst visiting the 798 Art district which had a whole section dedicated to food and eating out. Not only was there a description of how to order and how words should be pronounced but the Chinese symbols were also alongside each word so we could show the staff directly what it was we wanted. Still this wasn’t always successful! Ordering vegetables, tofu and a pork dish equated into pork, vegetables and tofu in every dish! But they will taylor what you want especially in the street style open restaurants. Of this is an exciting part of travel, you can’t read the menu, it’s all in traditional Chinese symbols, and so we had to point at the book and see what would come! “Mifan” always got us the rice though!!
(to be continued)

China Travel – Food, Transport and the Language Barrier

Having spent 2 months traveling in China, by the end of our trip we’d still only managed to pick up around 5 words: Hello = “Ni hao”, Thank you = “Xiexie”, Rice = “Mifan” and Vegetables = “Shucai”. This is simply the phonetically spelt words and we haven’t even included the accents that accompany them which play such an important role in how a word is pronounced!
But anyway we’re not here to give you a lesson in Chinese grammar! What we would like to do however is talk about how we managed to travel China without being able to speak or understand the language.

Eating out in China!
Having had the experience of eating out in Japan we knew China was on a similar level when it comes to attitudes towards vegetarian cuisine. Not that Helen is a complete vegetarian, as she does eat fish thankfully, but if you are a strict vegetarian then trying to communicate this in restaurants is near impossible as 95% of everything is prepared in some kind of meat or fish based broth.
By David & Helen (to be continued)

Beijing China 6 WangFuJing Shopping Street

Beijing’s most famous shopping center, housing famous Beijing brands, tea houses and restaurants. The street is closed off for pedestrian use only. Try venturing on a few side streets and your likely to find some disgusting bugs on sticks, ready to eat. Also be weary of “art students” inviting you to their exhibition and selling you fake art. I was approached by three different art students that asked me the same exact questions and offered the same exact thing. They will engage in friendly discussion, asking where you are from.

Beijing Olympic Park
The most spectacular Olympic Games Opening Ceremony to ever take place was here, at Olympic Park in Beijing. The two most iconic stadiums are the Birds Nest and the Cube. Four years after the Games and Asian tourists still flock to visit the park in the thousands.
By Jason Castellani

Beijing China 5

Summer Palace

This peaceful compound was more or less the Emperor’s vacation home. He came here in the summer months to relax in the shade near the man made lake. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time as to enjoy the landscape and bring your walking shoes.

Beijing Zoo

Zoos in China aren’t the most animal friendly, and can be disturbing sometimes for animal lovers, but the Beijing Zoo houses something many westerners are eager to see. Panda Bears have residence in the zoo, but don’t expect them to look too happy with their living conditions either.

By Jason Castellani (to be continued)

Beijing China 4

Temple of Heaven
Think of Central Park times 3. Here you will see people taking dance lessons, exercising, playing cards and practicing tai-chi. The Temple of Heaven translates to “Alter of Heaven” and includes many different buildings with historical and cultural significance.

Lama (Buddhist) Temple
Over 50% of Chinese are Buddhist, which technically is not a religion, it’s more commonly referred to as a cultural practice or thought system. This is one of the largest and most important Buddhist Temples in the world. Here you can see an 85 foot tall Buddha carved out of one single piece of wood.

Confucius Temple
“Real knowledge is to know the ext of one’s ignorance.” ~Confucius. This is the second largest Confucian Temple in China and the only site where the entrance fee was a bit sketchy. My guide told me that tourists will get charged 70 Yuans but the real cost is actually only 30 Yuans. He asked me to stay behind while he purchased the ticket. On the actual ticket it did say 70, but he came back with 70 Yuan change for me. He said this is the only place where they have this issue. Inside the compound there is a museum that showcases how students of Confucianism learned the wisdom of their practice.
By Jason Castellani (to be continued)

Beijing China 3 Forbidden Palace

The ancient palace was home to the Chinese Emperor(s). This is massive, and I mean massive compound where thousands of eunuch, concubines and high ranking officers lived to meet the demands of the Emperor as he ruled China. Anyone who visited the palace needed special permission or invitation, hence the name “Forbidden Palace.” The place is usually extremely crowded, so go early and bring water and a snack. Depending on how interested you are in seeing a decent amount of the place this could easily be a full day event.

The Great Wall of China
There are excellent sightseeing sections of the Great Wall available near Beijing. The most popular and picture perfect is at the Badaling section. We recommend avoiding the crowds and visiting the Mutianyu section instead. A lift takes you to the top of the wall where you can traverse several different sections for incredible views. Consider taking a toboggan ride down for a little extra excitement. Yes, I said toboggan.

Hutong
Another popular Beijing activity is to take a rickshaw ride through the Hutongs (Alley’s) of Beijing. It’s an interesting way to see how and where the common people lived, but be aware of “Tea Ceremony” scams and always ask for a price before you decide to take part in any activity.
By Jason Castellani (to be continued)