Via Mongolia...

And it was a stunning day in Mongolia.
One day I'll grow up to be a pilot.

Chinese market, hutongs, Houhai Lake, and a sad farewell to Beijing

Day 13

Slept really badly, finished my book, started another, and still couldn't sleep - so it was a weary Jen that walked out for a final day of exploration. The hotel all set up for a wedding, double happiness signs everywhere (I want one for D&M!), and just down the road a group of gaily clad guys were tuning their instruments and preparing a bright red-draped sedan chair and a dragon costume, presumably to transport the bride.

Single stop on the metro, to Andingmen, and walked to the Temple of the Earth. As before, plenty of activity in the park, and the definitely not-so-impromptu band playing again. Sang, as last time!

The market had extended massively, and was positively enormous. Paintings, embroideries, lots of good/bad junk, kitchen/home-wares, clothes of all sorts (brand new HH and North Face goretex jackets for around £40). I invested heavily in chopsticks and gourd seeds, total spend approx £5 (that's a whole lot of chopsticks!). Glad I didn't miss the food area, vast piles of many assorted types of seaweed, noodle, dried fruit, mushroom, nuts, dried fish, and much more, all offered for tasting.

Lunch was nibbles, stone pot yoghurts, skewers, Zhou and fruit, all taken on the hoof.

Marched back from Ditan Park through a new hutong area (well, new to me), and eventually to the Silver Ingot Bridge at Houhai, where I all but fell asleep over a pot of tea.

Back to pack, tried to negotiate a double happiness sign from the hotel, and now really looking forward to a last Sichuan supper!!

Drew heavily on Tim's recommendations here; chicken with nuts/chillis/shallots/ginger/ma, sour gourd, bean curd sponge, and kidneys cut spectacularly to match the cut stalk of a vegetable that was part of the dish; tasty, spicy, not too hot. Plus tea, glass after glass served in a wine goblet.

All delicious and lovely; then enjoyed a touch of Fawlty Towers with someone else's elegant fish dish. Girl coming away from table and incoming fish dish with burners beneath collided; slippage and some spillage. Back to kitchen. Girl tried next, some spillage. Back to kitchen. Fish entrusted to strongest young man who delivered safely. Comes away in obvious pain, has burned his fingers in the process, but smiles at the comedy of it all!

Tip not accepted, but pleased that I enjoyed the meal - so pleased that the manager wrote a long message in my book for Tim to translate at some point. She indicated that it was good, but for all I know could have been saying something along the lines of 'you greedy pig, you ordered far more than you could eat'!

I'll find out in due course.

Packing now all done, but not ready or willing to leave after this extraordinary adventure.

Hard to believe I'll be in King Edward Street on Monday.....

But I'll be back.

Liulichang, the Beijing Metro, and (you've guessed it) great food!

Day 12

Woke late, relaxed.

Not hungry, so a simple roadside stone pot yoghurt for breakfast, and then followed my nose without a real plan via the metro to Liulichang. The nearly full train stopped at the first station, and we were all asked to get off, all waiting for the next to arrive. When one nearly full trainload tries to board a nearly full train you get, well, chaos, and a very unpleasant juxtaposition of bodies. Still, got my arse into gear, and discovered it was a quicker arse than any surrounding Chinese ones when it came to reversing into a newly vacant seat - I had no idea just how far I could stick it out!

A gentle meander down the western part of Liulichang (not previously explored), and then enjoyed browsing through couple of great art bookshops. Paint brushes by the hundred ranging from mouse- to full horse-tail size.

Found a superb place to have lunch, 50m south of the Liulichang road bridge, east side. Not a Westerner in sight, and I was pretty pleased with what I ordered, though it would have fed four. Chicken kung po, shredded cabbage and bean curd, bitter gourd (yes, by choice, Tim!), and the best (very hot) prawn hotpot. So had crispy, soft, firm and crunchy textures, with bitter, hot, ma, and sour flavours. Missed out on sweet, but made up for it later with cake and coffee at Starbucks, where I sat at the top of the main drag leading to Tiananmen Square as the sun went down; it got dark very quickly. 

A little more gift shopping, then enjoyed the food stalls just off the main street, though not remotely hungry!!

Back, then to the hotel via metro, full circle of line 2 today, to write postcards with a beer in the very Chinese bar with underfloor fish tanks at the Bamboo Garden.

Last day tomorrow, just as I'm feeling really comfortable in this amazing city.

Now right out of socks, pity; my room smells of feet...

Oh, did I mention the spitting? Noisy oik/spit, anywhere and everywhere - in the street, in taxis, in restaurants. Comedy now, no point finding it offensive.

Forbidden City and Jinshan Park + Acrobats!

Day 11

Breakfast on the way to the metro.

Pancake mix, smeared with whole fresh egg and a few seeds, then chopped herbs and spring onions. Turned, and painted with chilli and something else, then large crispy item placed on top. Folded, cut, bagged, and totally delicious.

So by metro to the Forbidden City, having discovered that the Guloudajie station is but a ten minute walk from the hotel.

The FC entrance was packed, as was the whole central walkway, but found that advancing on the right flank was quieter, and interesting. Saw the treasures housed in various buildings, gold, jade and jewellery. Certainly these were areas unapproached on my last visit.

Then Jinshan Park, straight to the central and topmost pavilion, with book.

The view over the Forbidden City would have been spectacular on a clear day, and even on a rather murky afternoon it was good, the myriad of tiled curved roofs striving to clear a way through the shrouds of mist.

I walked all the way back through the hutongs and round Qianhai Lake, feet very tired.

Quick change and back in the metro - rush hour sardines a million times worse than anything experienced in London, and finishing with a mile or two in a small tin shed surrounding a motor-trike, a very special sort of taxi - to the Chaoyang Theatre and an acrobatic show to end all others. Balance, contortion, awesome arm strength of some of the guys - and finally a motorbike spectacular to take your breath away. First one, then two... and finally five guys on motorbikes spinning very fast, and doing coordinated fast manoeuvres inside a wire sphere no more than 10m in diameter. Roaring engines, smell of diesel, headlights on, and just the most exciting thing to watch!!!

Back to base by metro, and needing food. 10 assorted skewers of dubious nature retrieved from some hot bubbling liquid, finished with chilli, from streetside stall. Probably wouldn't pay to ask what they were, but they were tasty, and I seem to have survived so far.

Night night.

Lama, Confucius, pearls and (again) great food!

Day 10

Beijing. Breakfast in the hotel, disappointingly cold zhou.

A walk out, initially undecided about where to go, but lack of a taxi forced long walk towards metro, and had Lama and Confucius Temples in mind. Walked a long way, and eventually only one stop on the metro.

Both temples peaceful, one intensely religious, the other not. Both relatively uncrowded, and very easy to relax. Loved the ferocious tortoises carrying stone tablets in the CT, also the wonderful very gnarly, very old pine trees.

Realised how easy it would be to get from Yonghegong to the metro stop for the Hongqiao Pearl Market, just ten stops all the way to Tiantandongmen station - just had to count my pennies to cover the massive cost of 2Y (20p). Metro so much cleaner than the London Underground; trains mostly behind sliding doors, but crowded.

Good to watch the pearl string knotters knotting strings of pearls; achieved the required shopping list for Dan, and a couple more bits and pieces. Then found, easily, a great taxi driver who knew the short cuts all the way back to the hotel.

Dinner again with T, tired initially but second wind came from somewhere...

We ate:

   Bitter gourds

   Silky gourds

   Bean curd with peanuts

   A whole sweet and sour fish, filleted, and cut to give spikes of fish, and lightly battered

   A crunchy bony cubed chicken dish, with chilli, spring onions, Sichuan peppercorns giving the amazing 'ma' flavour, peppers and some sort of noodle

   Lotus root, with lily bulbs, wood-eared mushrooms, mange-tout peas and gingko fruits

A veritable feast!

We talked about...

...well, lots of things.

New business venture aim, to encourage awareness of the hidden water usage of commodities - ' That all humankind should respect the value of water'.

Vey sad to say farewell to Tim, but he left me with a Chinese painting of persimmons to remind me of the luscious persimmon picnic by the lake in the Summer Palace, and, to ensure I'm not entirely 'Bereft in Beijing', a whole host of written menu suggestions for the next few days.

I think I have the tools to survive!

Taiyuan School, good food, and the return to Beijing

Day 9

The days are going too quickly.

More zhou, eggs, coffee, and a last walk around Pingyao; then into the taxi to Taiyuan. Past rural scenes of maize fields, young trees, fields, to factories belching smoke, and a thickening pall in the air. Power stations, blast furnaces and cement factories, a few more fields, and then into Taiyuan and whole host of newly erected skyscraper blocks, many as yet uncompleted and unoccupied; the city home to 10m people.

Through a complex maze of ring roads, and eventually met the Headmistress of the Taiyuan Experimental Primary School, delighted, after her very agitated and nervous preparations, to meet Tim. The school is forging links with Barton Primary School in Richmond, Yorkshire, and will be corresponding by Skype etc. What a great experience and opportunity for the kids (and teachers) at each of the schools!

We were led immediately into a couple of classrooms, and greeted by roomfuls of 50 happy kids shouting 'hello'! We saw music areas, ecology displays, paintings and meticulous English written work by the children. Huge groups of kids walking out to meet their parents at lunchtime, reciting poetry loudly as they walked. A lovely English teacher called Echo (real name Oon Lin), with perfect English and a thirst for knowledge and improvement.

And then we were led to a restaurant for lunch.

A bit of a shuffle to get us all seated; the Headmistress facing the door, Tim to her right, and me on Tim's right, with Echo beside me. Other senior teachers and an expert from Beijing also around the table.

Tea, and toasts with orange juice at the beginning and end of the meal. Round after round of food, and much conversation. I followed the good humour, but not the detail! They were upset at the English for stealing the Elgin Marbles from Greece, and also relics from China. Laughter from all at the disgusting nature of English food (well-timed, just as I was tucking in to a juicy but discomforting duck's head, needless to say not my first choice!).

Tim passionate about introducing Mandarin and Chinese cultural studies into GBR schools, and concerned that whilst the Chinese are making enormous efforts to understand the western cultures, the same is not true in reverse.

Anyway, we ate and ate and ate.

Spicy beef, a fish, a hotpot with all sorts of meats and fried tofu, another spicy meat dish, salads, peanuts, a surprising sweet bean curd 'doughnut' in the middle of the meal (complete with jammy centre), corn cakes, noodles, fresh tofu. All were convinced I couldn't handle chopsticks, at which point I developed an acute chopsticks neurosis and had to resort to a spoon for a while! All but full when the big plates of dumplings arrived, first round filled with meat, second with vegetables, both to be dipped in vinegar.

That was it then.

But it wasn't.

Against protests we were then given large bowls of noodles with sauces of aubergine, tomato and potato. Lashings of tea, and then the final orange juice toast...

A gentle stroll back to the school, invitations to visit again any time, more photos, exchange of gifts - and finally time to get into a taxi for the airport.

The most amazing experience, once again thanks to my good fortune to be travelling with Mr China!

The flight back to Beijing was uneventful, and quick, and now safely returned by Tim's driver to the Bamboo Garden, room 104. Sleep will be welcome tonight!

Pingyao continued

Day 8

Another storming day. A good breakfast of 'zhou', (pronounced 'jo', now know how to spell it), and egg. A walk through the back streets,  many glimpses into people's lives and backyards. A visit to a temple with two massive angry guardians, wooden, with grimaces and stormy glares. An incense experience, a chat with a Daoist priest, fortune told and apparently something I really want is going to happen.

A visit to the Yamen, the local court and county offices, including the old gaol, and chambers full of torture instruments and gory pictures from which Tim protected me. How life was lived than, and even now...

After a snack of a stone baked crispy bread, we sought the grottiest place, and had the best lunch. Potato strips with garlic, bean curd with tomato and green pepper, and dumplings with pork, dipped in soy sauce and chilli. It was very, very good.

Then a choice, and ended up going out in a taxi to the massive Cao Jia Yuan family courtyard house where 'Raise the Red Lantern' was filmed. There were indeed red lanterns, as well as Ming vases, mirrors, calligraphy, cupboards, and a whole lot more. Spectacular view from the roof of the middle tower towards the mountains, hot, sunny and clear again; learned about Mao, calligraphy, and a whole lot of other things. The courtyard house in three sections, for longevity, more children and good luck, home of wealthy traders from late Ming times until 1937.

On the way back passed a brand new massive power station, which had not been connected to the grid, paperwork hadn't been completed, licence never given, and which is likely to be pulled down. Probably bigger than any in the UK. Extraordinary, but apparently this sort of thing happening all over China.

Back for another wander, and some shopping.

Tim chose and then negotiated the price of a beautiful circular wooden fretwork item, 'good luck' (or if upturned, 'good luck received'), down to £20; I bought this, and 7 beautiful papier mâché lanterns for the princely sum of £1 each, and some little shoes and an animal mobile for Gar and Megan; and we each bought some canvas shoes, Tim's black, and mine adorned with red roses (approx £5 a pair).

Time then to repair to the International Financiers Club for some more beer, and another meal in another 'grotty' place - open steamed 'pasta' tubes with a very hot dip; a mountain medicine dish, and a hot chopped chicken with bones dish, again excellent, tasty.

And then tea back at the hotel, and now once again back in the bed of beds, writing my diary.

Just so lucky to be here, to see all this, and even in this extraordinary place, to see beyond what is immediately obvious, and to have the guide of guides!