24.06.16: Beijing in one day

After a long 9,5 hrs flight with little sleep plus 6 hrs time difference, we finally arrived at Beijing Airport - the farest East I have ever been on my World map. 

In general, my first impression of a people  is well created and later confirmed by the immigration officers.

In this case, I would think that Chinese people are unfriendly and uncommunicative. No smile, no eye contact, no nice words. Yet, I think it is more related to their culture of keeping feelings hidden but to a Western European Mom travelling with a kid this was odd. 

The picking up at the Airport went smoothly and an hour later our group of an American couple, a girl from UK and an Irish pal was complete. We met Howard, our Chinese tour guide in a hotel and drove to the first stop: The world famous Tian'nam Place. The history of this place, the pictures that we all saw on TV during the latest revolutionary days came into mind. Tons of Chinese tourists were strolling around . 

The sky was incredibly blue (obviously an exception), the heat dry and easy to bear as we listened to the Howard's narrations. 

Next to the place is the entrance to the Forbidden City. Having seen the movie of the last Emperors childhood, I was nevertheless flashed by the size, the structure, the gems of this place. Even though there have been many tourists, one could sense the history. Howard's interesting stories were the perfect addition to the beauty of it. 

We then continued our trip and went on a 1,5 hour trip to Mutianyu to the Great Chinese Wall! What an impressive piece of history. We went up in scary, old and rusty chairlift - definitely not meeting up with German quality standards, hahaha. Up there the view was stunning. We went on a 1 hour walk and imagined having been punished by the Emperor to march on the partially really steep and broken pathways to secure his life and people. 

Getting down was so much fun. We took down a modern toboggan and rushed downhill in endless curves. Just perfect!!! 

The taxi dropped us off directly at the Airport in the evening where we had a few hours left to prepare for Singapore. By this time, we were tired to the bone.

I can highly recommend 'China Highlights' as a tour and even though we were completely exhausted - it was worth every single moment!!

Bejing? Check!