Hazy Shade of Winter

Sunday February 17th - Tuesday February 19th

We've left the warmth of the southern hemisphere well and truly behind now and have hit winter properly. Beijing is pretty nippy when we land in the afternoon although compared to a month ago it's positively tropical at just above freezing. Our hostel picks us up from the airport and we're checked in and out of the door headed for Tiananmen Square. Every night there is a ceremonial flag lowering when the sun sets (and vice versa every morning) and hundreds of people cram around the flagpole in the Square to watch. Most of them are Chinese and you're watched closely by the local boys in blue as the soldiers perform a pretty elaborate ceremony and carry the flag off through the Gate of Heavenly Peace. It's fascinating to watch.

The next morning is a very early start and a very cold one. The temperature's not interested in positive values as we head out to JinShanLing and the start point of our walk along the Great Wall. We're doing a much quieter 10km section that will take us to Simatai. The air may be cold but the sky is clear and for the first two hours you're escorted along by local guides who, after you show no interest in buying books, postcards, t-shirts, head back to the start. There has been some restoration on this section but for the most part it's in a fairly rustic state but still a very impressive structure. It's the scale of it that is the most awe-inspiring as you see it heading up and along ridges and away into the distance.

Our final day in Beijing was spent mainly in the Forbidden City. This is the area that contains numerous temples and palaces that various dynasties in the past have used as their quarters and contains literally millions of antiques and religious artifacts. It's a huge site and only by walking it do you get the chance to appreciate its scale. There is a huge amount of restoration taking place and the palaces that have already been done look stunning.

To round off our Beijing experience we visited the Silk Market on the hunt for some coats that would mean we could get off the train in Siberia without succumbing to hypothermia in 10 seconds. It's an exhausting experience with everyone trying to get you to buy things from their stall. Cries of "Oi lady, you want cushion covers" are commonplace. We manage to get a couple of coats at a vastly reduced price from the original offer but whether or not we haggled well or paid over the odds is unclear. Either way we're not going to freeze.

We've really enjoyed Beijing and it will be interesting to see what the Olympics does for it. I've no doubt the Games will be a huge success for China and they will put on a fantastic show, the government will see to that, but the one thing that could detract from the whole spectacle is the air quality. The smog, even in winter, is clearly visible and will only get worse as summer comes around. If they can sort that they'll be onto a winner.

We packed our bags and stocked up on food ready to board the Trans-Mongolian train that would take us from Beijing all the way to Moscow.

Beijing's 24/7s

Sunday: By thunder it's cold, get the thermals.

Monday: It's not called the Great Wall accidentally.

Tuesday: Oi lady, you want jacket? Best price!