The Last Station Beijing
Monday 18th May
We have made it. We have travelled by train from Amsterdam to Beijing.
We arrive in Beijing at 2.00p.m. and make our way from the station by taxi to our hotel. The Shindom near the Temple of Heaven. We are given room 219 which is in an annexe. We unpack a few things and have a shower to freshen up, then Laziz arrives and asks if we would like to move to a room in the main hotel. It will be better for us but is a bit of a nuisance packing up again. We sort ourselves out and go down to the lobby to meet everyone to go out for a meal.
Laziz is taking us to a restaurant on the other side of the city, so we have to use the subway. It is very easy as all the signs are in English as well as Chinese. Tickets are 2 yuan each, about 20pence. The subway is very modern as it was all updated for the Olympics.
The restaurant was very good. Laziz ordered a few items so we had a chance to try various dishes.
We had chosen two tours for our two days in Beijing, and the tickets were ready when we arrived back at the hotel. Tomorrow we are visiting the great wall.
