The centre of the world

Chinese say that China is the nation in the centre, that's actually what 'Zhōngguó' ('China' in Chinese) mean. At the centre of the centre of the world is Beijing.

Twenty minutes in Beijing were enough to realise that this was going to be one of my favourite places in the trip. It is old, grey, polluted and majestic. People spit on the floor, push each others to enter a train or a bus, shout in the street when talking to each other, smoke and throw the cigarette butts to the floor in restaurants. After the almost clinical cleanliness of Tokyo and the modernity of Seoul this was a 180 degrees turn.

Chinese are way less shy than I thought! People come and talk to you, smile at you, want to take pictures with you. I was in Beijing during the national holiday of the 1st of May, because of that the city was full of tourists! Thousands and thousands of them! A few foreigners, but the vast majority Chines from all over the country, that probably never saw a white person before. Chinese are warm, passionate people! They are curious, funny, smiley, loud and friendly. Their temperament is unpredictable, but never aggressive! All of this makes them some of the most charming people I've came across.

Funny guy dancing with a bottle on his head

Weird instrument that sounds like a mix between an harmonica and a bagpipe

The monuments in Beijing are gigantic! For example, from all the monuments I've seen so far, the Forbidden City might be only second to Angkor in Cambodia in terms of size. There is also the Temple of Heavens, the Summer Palace (where the emperors used to retreat during the scorching temperatures in the Forbidden City) and many more. One could easily spend a month without repeating a single monument.

The gate of the Forbidden City seen from the gigantic Tiananmen Square

The Forbidden City seen from above

Temple of Heaven

Summer Palace

The Great Wall, two hours away from Beijing

Forbidden City

The first meals in Beijing were enough to realise that I was entering a whole new gastronomical world! The food is de-li-ci-ous! Noodles, dumplings, fried rice, barbeque skewers, fish, meat, dry, wet, large, small, colourful, spicy and not so spicy. The menus are endless, specially in Beijing, where restaurants from all the regions of China can be found everywhere. As a local speciality: Peking Duck... Forget the crispy duck from London's China town! This is indeed the real thing! The whole duck is prepared in different ways in front of you: the skin is eaten with sugar (believe me, it is delicious), the meat is sliced and eaten inside a thin pancake with vegetables and a chocolaty sauce (this is similar to what we find in the Chinese restaurants in the West) and the bones with a bit of meat left are deep fried. An epic meal!

I ended up staying 12 days in Beijing and I loved every single one of them. My cousin and my brother joined me there too. The hostel where I stayed 365 Inn) was one of the best I've ever been! It had a fantastic bar where all the guests easily meet each others. A fantastic group of travellers from probably over 20 countries got together there that stayed all nights drinking and chatting until late hours every day, after a tiring sightseeing day. The hostel was close to a 'hutong', the typical old and grey neighbourhoods in Beijing, where usually older people live. The life in the hutongs is great! Everything happens in the streets... People eat in chairs and tables outside the cheap and delicious restaurants, old men play Chinese chess and cards before sunset, etc. At night you can see wild ferrets walking around, which was an excuse for our group to stroll a few times late at night in the hutongs to spot the ferrets. We always found some small restaurant still open at late hours serving cheap beer and skewers.

An hutong

Ferret-spotting at night in the hutong

I also had the chance to meet some westerners living in Beijing. They hang out a lot in there hutongs (yes, there are hunting hipsters), chatting until late, rather than clubbing and getting completely drunk, like the ones in Shanghai, for example.

I didn't want to leave Beijing, but the traveller has to move on! Beijing, the centre of the world, was the centre of my world during those days.