I’ll get to sleep early tonight; I’ve said this every night so far, and every night I haven’t. It’s the same tonight, as I sit here at 11:30 beginning to write. I can’t justify bypassing any opportunity to experience this amazing place, and this weekend has honestly been one of the best of my life.

The coach to Juyongguan Pass where we would climb the Great Wall slowly made its way out of greater Beijing until districts of flats, housing and construction gave way to countryside and shortly after, mountains. The coach stopped and we found ourselves amongst thousands of tourists, predominantly Chinese, many of whom had the same idea as us to climb to the top, and like the Chinese say, become a true man.

Heat and humidity turned the climb into a silent hike, except for moments when we occasionally stopped to take a photo or have a drink. The steepness of the wall is phenomenal, and even with the hoards of tourists and climbers there were occasions where you could find yourself alone with the spectacular views.

Twice I’d been asked to have my photo taken: the first time with some Chinese girls and the second time I’d been selected along with another westerner to pose with a Chinese guy. There’s a humbling innocence about their desire to have their photo taken with somebody from far away, and it surprised me nicely to see that there were still many Chinese here and that unlike so many other places it had not yet been overrun by Europeans or Americans.

Our next destination was the Bird’s Nest Stadium which hosted the Beijing 2008 Olympics, which after the Great Wall did not excite me too much. But when we approached it, the city changed. New buildings, apartments, hotels and parks had sprung up all around, and the traditional China gave way to the most modern district of any city I’d seen. The stadium was stunning architecturally, especially from the outside: I think London will struggle to match this place.

People continued to ask for photos of us, but it reached a whole new level when cries of “NBA” were joined with families and their children asking for a photograph with Asher, with more and more people crowding round to get a picture. At one stage it became surreal, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if local press came around to scoop the big story of the NBA star coming to Beijing. Once we’d moved on, and things began to feel a bit more real, somebody asked Aman to hold their baby and pose for a photo with him. How can you not feel something really endearing when somebody will let a stranger, a foreigner hold their baby because they think you’re special because you’re foreign? Thinking about what the Chinese guy at the British Embassy said, I really feel we’ve not seen the beginning of how kind and warm-hearted these people are.

When we returned me and Jason felt the need to go back to our favourite eating establishment in Beijing: the small street-stall that we’d eaten in on the previous day. After a shower we all gathered in the corridors to celebrate Anne-Marie’s birthday, and Ariel, Juliette and Toles made it too. Actually, I haven’t mentioned them yet: they’re the helpers from the University and the British Council, who have been incredibly kind, helpful and interesting.

Afterwards, me, Jason and Michael decided to grab a taxi and head to Tiananmen Square; Ariel had recommended a fantastic restaurant nearby specialising in Peking duck and we came up with the idea of going into the centre at night to explore the city. Our cab driver broke the ice by asking where we were from, and from that we managed, with my limited Chinese and his limited English, to have a proper conversation- my first in Chinese. He asked whether I knew Beckham, and reeled off a list of things he associated with Britain, including smart attire, Prince Charles, Manchester and the Tudor household- all of which quite impressed me for somebody with very limited exposure to foreigners. We talked about football as well, and from what I could understand he was disappointed England didn’t do well. We both came to the conclusion that we’re both better at football at least than France, and we explained to him why we were in China, for how long and what we hoped to get out of the programme when he asked us why we were in Beijing: a really nice cab driver, who refused our tip at the end.

We could tell we were in Tiananmen Square as we approached the famous portrait of Mao outside the Forbidden City, but aside from this and the consistently busy Beijing traffic there was only the darkness of an empty square at night. We were the only westerners, and we began to perceive a slightly less friendly atmosphere as almost immediately prostitutes spotted us and rushed over. Despite the heavy police presence I didn’t feel comfortable walking around with my camera out, so we proceeded to walk until the emptiness of Tiananmen Square gave way to modern high-rise buildings, indicated by the glowing face of Colonel Sanders outside a 24 hour KFC. We wandered around the fairly empty streets and reached a McDonalds, where I decided to go in to buy a drink and some fries. One oddity of China is that at midnight on Saturday night, McDonalds seemed the only place within a few square miles which was full of young people; it seems a bizarre concept to us, but they were in their socialising with friends, playing cards and even doing schoolwork.

 

 

I got up early Sunday morning after a short sleep to buy a coffee at my new local coffee shop/bakery before we all headed off to Tiananmen Square. The heat was unbearable as we walked through the crowded square- so much more different in the daytime, to reach the entrance to the Forbidden City. The square, the biggest in the world, was full of Chinese tourists, interspersed with the occasional westerner or two. The more sinister atmosphere of the previous night was not around during the daytime, but around the area there was a distinct lack of high-rise developments. The square seemed like a homage to the communism of the Cold War era, so far-removed from the capitalism of today which seems to be engulfing this country.

The Forbidden City was incredibly impressive, if still almost unbearably hot and crowded. The ornate regal architecture with all of its beautiful colours and patterns strongly contrasted with the simplicity and purposefulness of the communist constructions just outside. It seems that in history every action has an equal and opposite reaction; that is to say, looking at the Forbidden City- built for the purpose and pleasure of just one man, you can see how communist ideology can appeal. However, in terms of beauty, absolute monarchy beats communism as the gates and palaces in the Forbidden City act as a sort of gigantic, beautiful maze.

We didn’t rest too long when we got back. We needed to get some passport-style photographs printed for the University, so we went to a small studio, where for a fee of £2.50 you could have 4 photos taken and printed in a tiny room. The clutter and untidiness of the place accentuated the ingenuity of the people running it, as the result proved just as good as any conventional photo booth.

A few of us grabbed taxis and decided to make a trip to a silk market a few miles away in the city, where we were presented with countless stalls, each with friendly-faced yet pushy sales staff. I bought a few bits, but the main enjoyment I got out of it was getting a chance to practice my Chinese with the young people working there. They were very keen on talking to me (they’d stopped pestering me to buy things by this stage) and interested in Britain and learning English, which they all used by default when dealing with westerners.

To end the perfect weekend we went back to Tiananmen Square, to dine at the restaurant Ariel recommended. The duck was gorgeous, and brought out on trays and cut up by the chefs before us (who wore more hygiene gear than most British chefs). As we got up to leave, the Chinese people dining there all stared at us, with some even waving.

I’ve been blown away already with just how fantastic Chinese people are. And already, after just four days, our group of 40 has bonded incredibly well and we feel like we’ve known each other for years. With exactly six weeks left here today I cannot begin to imagine what I’ll be feeling in the weeks to come.