BEIJING.
I feel like the easiest way to talk about the trip is by destination...
We flew with Swiss Air and they were pretty cool and gave us chocolate with some swish graphics. It certainly made the experience of eating chocolate that much more satisfying when it looks like this and not just like...a block of chocolate.
Beijing is one of those cities that just has tons of places to see. By the end of the week, I only felt I'd seen a smidge of Beijing; we did get all of the touristy destinations crossed off though, thanks to my Dad who is cunningly efficient with the schedule. It is definitely a place that will be visited again in the future.
What's nice is that quite a bit of old China has been retained here, although it isn't particularly well looked after. The Chinese really love their new shiny buildings, and there are a LOT of them, standing alongside such heritage sites as the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. I think that attitudes to historic venues and tourist attractions are certainly very different to that in England...which I think is a shame. These places are stunningly beautiful and just awe-dropping in many ways, and it's a shame that they are so difficult to take care of.
The people themselves are of course, still themselves, and its funny to see how people act differently. Everywhere there are people napping, singing karaoke, dancing, eating, talk/shouting, posing, spitting.... Had it not been for my trips to Hong Kong all my life, I don't think I'd have half as been prepared. To an extent, there's still a little culture shock. And there are a LOT of people. Perhaps more than I've ever seen in my life. I haven't really captured them in my photographs, but it's literally a sea of people and umbrellas, all shouting over each other, having a conversation from two different sides of the Great Wall...no kidding.
