So now we come to the Chinese part of our trip to china. Our tour leader, Judy, comes from Xian. It seems that everything in China runs on time and Judy is running us like clockwork travelers. Gill and I call her "Chop Chop" - she really does clap hers hands at us to shoo us along and the nick name is spreading through the group. BUT when in Rome......
Beijing is huge - as expected, completely rebuilt in last 20 years - pity but it seems that the average living space has increased in that time from 3 to 17 square metres, so I guess they had to do something. They have saved a little area of Hutong ( the old style living courtyards, and we were allowed to visit this area and meet a couple of the locals that wait patiently for the tour bus loads to arrive. Interesting but very contrived. Mao had decreed that if they had more than 9 rooms they had to accommodate other families and space certainly was at a premium.
Looking back, the really interesting thing about our visit to the Hutong was that we escaped from Chop Chop. We were allowed to visit a normal market where we got an idea of non tourist prices. I bought a miniature tea service for 15 Yuan ( one pound) - we later saw the exact same article for sale in one of the government guaranteed shops for 230 Yuan - some serious markup. I will return to this comical pricing and bargaining process later.
The Great wall was in very good order - and we beat the crowds. Gill and i climbed to the top of the patch we visited ( about an hour's climb) - all our Kinabalu experience came to the fore as we overtook some pretty prostrate tourists who had spent far too long on the bus and in the government shops. - hopefully we won't become as unfit as them after our 4 week tour.
We were beginning to enjoy Chop Chop's vowel changing Chinglish - she really can compete with 'allo 'allo
try these for example
On the train there will be no toothbrush and no soup There are two beautiful ravers in China They enjoy flying cats in Beijing China is shaped like a roaster, yes? The water fowl is very high and sometimes frozen
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