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Hong Kong to Sweden by train, Travel Blog
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12.5.2005 - Beijing
We arrived in Beijing around 6pm after spending a bit more than 26 hours on the train from Hong Kong. Fortunately we had the upper beds (six per cabin) because the cabins were open and there were quite alot of kids running around shouting all the time. We slept and read alot. We brought some bread and biscuits that we ate together with the instant noodles they sold on the train. The train had air-con and I've read somewhere that this is China's best railway line. The ticket cost around $70 US.
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| Photo sizes : Small Medium Large The toilet on the train |
Photo sizes : Small Medium Large Kalle is eating lunch |
Photo sizes : Small Medium Large Reading on the train |
Photo sizes : Small Medium Large Finally in Beijing |
I expected Beijing to be a chaotic city like Bangkok with a dozen of taxi drivers coming like hawks when we left the train station and then traffic jams and intense street life. But this far it has not been what I expected. Only one taxi driver approached us after a few minutes outside the train station and the traffic on the way to the hotel was calm. Central Beijing has alot of people on bicycles and the streets are suprisingly calm.
The hotel we found is definitely above our requirements. It's a nice double room with TV and fridge. It costs $35 US and I guess it's not that bad between me and Kalle. We had expected Beijing to be quite expensive after all. After a quick shower we checked out the hotels restaurant and the prices were not bad at all. 60 cents US for a big bottle of beer and meals cost everywhere from $1 for fried rice to $7 for the most expensive seafood dish. After dinner we had a walk to Tiananmen Square which is the world's largest square and the centre of Chinese political life. The square is massive and is surrounded by big and impressive buildings. In the middle of the square is Mao Zedong Mausoleum where you can go and see Mao Zedong, preserved since his death in 1976. Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China from "Gate of Heavinly Peace" and there a gigant portrait of him is now looking out over Tiananmen Square. On one side of the square is a digital countdown to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
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| Photo sizes : Small Medium Large Qianmen, gate south of Tiananmen Square |
Photo sizes : Small Medium Large Tiananmen Square with Monument of People's Heroes and Nationalmuseum in the background |
Photo sizes : Small Medium Large Gate of Heavenly Peace |
Photo sizes : Small Medium Large Tiananmen Square Mao Zedong Mausoleum |