Beijing

We arrived in Beijing last week June 6th around 11pm and were collected by the owner of the hostel where we were staying. It was a short ride into the city and to our traditional house in one of the Hutongs. We chose this in order to get 'the real feel of the city and for its lovely name 'The Beijing Sweet Garden House'.


Day One after finding our way around our Hutong on Donsi Qi Tiao







and having our 'street food breakfast' we headed for The Forbidden City along with the other holiday crowds.










Our hostel was near the subway which was remarkably efficient and which over the next six days got us from one end of Beijing to the other and back again in no time flat and only cost 2 yuan per trip however far you went. Easy as pie.

Over the weekend that we were there they decided to automate the whole system and it was fascinating to watch how efficiently they re-educated the subway users. From the guards standing on the stairs preventing the crowds from going up the down stair cases, to the videos of cartoon characters using the new cards, in the subway carriages. All went smoothly even in the Tuesday morning rush hour traffic following the long weekend.