Travel Log 23

I arrived in Beijing tired and soon got grumpy when there was no starbucks in the train station or nearby. I had forgotten to write down directions to the hostel I was going to stay in and needed to pop into starbucks to get a coffee and use the free wifi. I was also annoyed that the main train station didn’t have a metro line going to it. However I managed to get to the metro and find a starbucks and then find my hostel. The hostel I stayed in was a terrible hostel, not because of the standard of cleanliness or for any fault of the staff, they were lovely, but because of all the British louts on holiday in Beijing during Easter. One morning I woke up to find a couple in the bed opposite my and a couple in the bed below me, I find it a little inconsiderate for couples to share the bunk bed in a dormitory, they may not be doing anything naughty but it is just the thought that they could be that I don’t like.

The first day I arrived I unfortunately add to sort out how to get out of the country. I had originally planned to take the ferry from near Beijing to Seoul but the ferry left the day after my visa ran out and the late charge on the Chinese visa is £50 every extra day. So it took me all day to find a cheapish flight out of Beijing as all the Chinese websites which had the cheap flights would only accept Chinese credit cards.

So during this Beijing visit (I am going back to China some time again soon) I decided to skip The Great Wall and instead see the Forbidden City – very impressive and huge, the summer palace – very romantic (well could be if I went with anyone), the Olympic Park – also very impressive even if I don’t like the birds nest and I also went to see the recently constructed CCTV headquarters – quite incredible!

And well that is China … for now. I like China.

Next South Korea.