People (mostly Chinese) told me that you either like Shanghai or Beijing, seldom both of them. After working half the summer at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), it is time to travel around the country. I've been looking forward to travelling around China and climbing the Great Wall for so long. Now the time has come.
I boarded a bullet train in Shanghai (a flight ticket was the same price, but I chose to travel by train, because a) I wanted to see the landscape and b) airports are far away and it's a hassle getting there), enjoyed more or less the second class ride (the landscape is rather disappointing, the people on the train noisy, etc.) and got off in the heart of Beijing five hours later.
My first impression of Beijing is negative. Dirty, smelly, polluted. Everything is different in Beijing. While Shanghai is posh, Beijing seems more working class. There are more poor people and beggars. However, I've made the most out of my short stay and visited some places like the Drum and Bell Tower. Because I arrived a bit late, I didn't have the time to visit both towers. Since the Drum Tower had a show, I decided to visit this one and leave the Bell Tower.
If you would like to read more by me, here are my novel and my diary from Ar'ar, in the northern Saudi desert. Both available on Amazon as soft and hard copy.
I boarded a bullet train in Shanghai (a flight ticket was the same price, but I chose to travel by train, because a) I wanted to see the landscape and b) airports are far away and it's a hassle getting there), enjoyed more or less the second class ride (the landscape is rather disappointing, the people on the train noisy, etc.) and got off in the heart of Beijing five hours later.
My first impression of Beijing is negative. Dirty, smelly, polluted. Everything is different in Beijing. While Shanghai is posh, Beijing seems more working class. There are more poor people and beggars. However, I've made the most out of my short stay and visited some places like the Drum and Bell Tower. Because I arrived a bit late, I didn't have the time to visit both towers. Since the Drum Tower had a show, I decided to visit this one and leave the Bell Tower.
Along with the older-looking Bell Tower,
which stands behind it, the red-painted Drum Tower used to be the city’s
official timekeeper, with drums and bells
beaten and rung to mark the times of the day.
This one is the Bell Tower.
This one, directly opposite is the Drum Tower.
This is the way up. Very steep and it takes some time to reach the top.
The view from the top.
The vistas from the balcony.
A hutong area.
Sorry, not in service.
The drums.
Waiting for the show to start.
Let the fun begin!
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If you would like to read more by me, here are my novel and my diary from Ar'ar, in the northern Saudi desert. Both available on Amazon as soft and hard copy.
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