BEIJING, CHINA

FIVE DAYS OF BEIJING

Beijing is honestly an incredible city! I had the most amazing 5 days and I definitely want to go back again soon. The trip was really rocky at times, but I guess that is what happens when you are travelling with a group of people you have just met and have different interests to. Despite all that, I had an incredible adventure and I cannot wait to go back.

I travelled to Beijing with 3 other people who were on the University trip to Dalian (See Dalian posts for more info). Two guys and one other girl. It was definitely a new experience and I have learnt a lot about myself and other people to be honest. One of the people I travelled with is definitely someone I want in my life forever. He is honestly one of the sweetest and funniest people I have ever met and truly helped me stay sane. I was always able to vent to him when I needed it and sometimes I wouldn’t even have to speak and he would know what’s up LOL. So much love for you Chris!

I absolutely loved the food in China! It was definitely flavoursome and made with love. We did cheat on some days those and have Western food. I did not want to eat Western at all, but sometimes for the sake of compromising and getting on I would just eat where everyone else was eating. I loved all the food as I’m a big foodie, these pictures just don’t do it justice!

SHOPPINGGGG! So we went to a place called the Silk Market, which is a 6 floor high shopping mall. It is not like your typical shopping centres you’ll find in London. It is very much a fancy looking market. The sales assistants were super persistent and pushing hard for sales. I LOVED IT! You really had to make sure that you were haggling hard and were just as persistent. When I would ask initial costs sometimes I’d hear 1500 Yuan and then manage to get it down to 150 Yuan. When I got 2 pairs of Converse for £35 I was ecstatic! I did a lot of haggling and it was slightly addictive, I just got a thrill from it LOL.

On our second day in Beijing everyone wanted to see the National Chinese Museum and since we only had 5 days I wanted to do something a little more adventurous. I decided to head into Tian’anmen Square and have a look around. I came across Zhongshan Park and had a wander around. It was beautiful and real serene. I just felt really calm and at peace.

The Forbidden City was lovely, I do have an interest in history so seeing the different artefacts and reading about the history of The Forbidden City was nice. It was a great day and was just beautiful to look at. It was FULL of people; apparently there are thousands of people who go through there every day. When we went it really hot and sunny, I was squinting so much in the photos (just thought I should share LOL).

The Temple Of Heaven was beautiful. Once again, as it is a really popular tourist attraction it was really busy, but the history behind it was really interesting. The attention to detail is incredible, you can really see how much effort they put into everything,

Yes, they were taking photos of me LOL.

On our last day in Beijing, we took a trip to the Great Wall of China. It was a heck of a long day and I enjoyed every moment of it. The best Beijing day by far! We had to wake up around 7am to leave for 7.30am. The alarms went off and there was not much movement LOL. Chris was not impressed and the first thing I heard was “I’m just going to go by myself.”  Every time I think about it I crack up laughing.. like right now LOL.

The Great Wall of China was surreal and I had to keep reminding myself where I was. I am not the biggest fan of heights, so when I was in the cable car going up I was a little nervous. It was beautiful and tobogganing down was a great end to the visit.

After The Great Wall we went to a market which was a combination of food and clothes, bags, accessories etc. We looked around and grabbed some food and then went back to The Silk Market so that I could get some more gifts. It was just a fun day and even once we got back it was full of laughs and jokes.

I am definitely ready to go back to China. I want to visit Shanghai, Chengdu and definitely travel back to Beijing.

Zaijian lovelies,