Since I started to get hooked on traveling, I had made myself a “to-do list” and one item on my travel “to-do list” is to go to China to see ;

1. The Great Wall of China and
2. The Forbidden City

Preparations

At that time, Airasia X was just opening its newest route to Tianjin and they were offering the tickets at a bargain price. I did not miss the opportunity and booked 2 tickets to Tianjin for a friend and I. We subsequently booked a hotel room for 2 via hotelclub.com where you can get deals on hotel rooms around the world.

You can apply for a visa at their consulate at menara OSK at Jalan Ampang. Visa cost was RM30 for a single entry visa and takes 4 working days to complete. However, with some extra fees, you can get it done even on the same day. This is official and nothing illegal about it. What a way to curb bribery.

So with that, we were well on our way to an adventure to China.

The stereotype

When you are about to go on a trip to China, its impossible NOT to hear about the stereotype regarding China. From what I heard from people around me is to be careful because there are many swindlers lurking around China (which I later found out to be only half true at best. I will elaborate on that later) and it is a dirty place. The most popular stereotype is it’s almost impossible to find Halal food in Beijing, which is pretty much the opposite, its very easy to find Halal food in Beijing (which I will also elaborate on later).

Episode 1 : First Impressions

The flight lasted about 6 hours and soon after landing we were screened for flu like symptoms as at that time it was at a time of the outbreak of the H1N1 Avian Flu. A bit of delay, but understandable. After everyone was scanned for temperature, we finally disembarked into the terminal. Security was tight with lots of x-ray scanners and security checks which we later found out to be common in all public places that are crowded with people such as the subway and Tiananmen Square. The security was a bit too tight if you ask me and caused a long queue to clear immigrations.

Immediately after exiting the terminal, the usefulness of what little mandarin that I knew was pretty much evident as nobody knew much English. Most important is to know numbers and ask for prices because that is what matters the most here.

My point was proved by the bus conductor when he was more interested in telling the fare price than telling us where the bus was heading to. It costs 30 Yuan to get to the train station and what a hot day it was. It’s just not humid as Malaysia but very dry. Typical of a Summer day.

To cut the story short, to get to Beijing, we needed to get to the train station  and take a train to Beijing.

The Tianjin Train Station

At the train station, we were guessing our way into buying the tickets to Beijing. Knowing a few Chinese characters really helps in knowing which train to take. Again, the ticket clerk doesn’t speak English. So, I tried working out my Mandarin magic, “Wo men yau qu Beijing….errr….duo shao qian?” meaning, “We want to go to Beijing. How much does it cost?” and with some luck and 58 Yuan we got the tickets for the train. Yay!

So, when the time came we boarded the train.

And not too long after, we were blazing our way to Beijing at more than 300 km/h.

30 minutes later we were some 150KM from Tianjin, at the Beijing South Train Station.

So far so good. We faced no big problems so far and from the train station we took a taxi to the hotel. Taxis usually start their meter at 10 Yuan and from the station it cost us about 20 Yuan to get to the hotel, which is quite reasonable. The taxis always use meters and always give out receipts. Either their very honest people, or the consequences of cheating is very severe. What ever it is I have no complaints about the taxis there.

So now, safely in our Hotel room, we decided to take a little rest and later go out for dinner as it was almost time.

In the next episode, I will be talking about the must see places around Beijing that we went to . Episode 2 : Sightseeing.

iMyn