Beijing. In my own words.

Just as I step into the cabin of MH370 to Beijing, I laughed out loud. Why? Because I find it very amusing and funny to see such colourful economy seats. I've never seen airlines seat so colourful such as these

Everyone looked at me. O_o

Instead of taking a tour package where you only experienced hop in, hop off buses, see beautiful buildings and hop in again, our guide was only from lonely planet. There were a lot of weird stuffs we've seen, behaviours we've encountered, and truly unforgettable experiences we've experienced.

Like the peak hours, the local food markets, the muslim village, on the streets, their subway, their driving system, trying to buy our own acrobatics ticket and much much more.

3 of the total 4 days we walked. Yes. In the cold (-12 degrees remember?). A bit exaggerating but I think we almost got frost bite for that. And believed me apart from Fairuz, the thing that I'm in love at that moment was my purple bubble jacket. I can marry it and have it as my second husband. Obviously we didn't took a lot of nice pictures this time. Because when it's below 5 degree usually you got running rudolf nose. Plus my hands preferred to stay in my pocket a lot more often. 

We walked for miles and miles. And the first thing that we experienced is the peak hours. My god, there's a lot of people in China. Approximately 70 millions itself live and work in Beijing alone. So just imagine how the peak hours in the tube will be like. Like sardines in a tin. Even sardines in a tin have much more spaces in it.

A few other things that I noticed here in Beijing. 

1. Chinese. Spits. Everywhere. Really. Disgusting.

2. They are very very very punctual. And very fast! 

3. You think Malaysian drive terribly right? Wait till you experience it on the road with them. It was horrendous. But I think the system works for them. They even drive on the pavement and its as if one way didn't exist. They simply U-turn whenever they want too. Hahaha

4. They are persistent. Especially when doing business.

5. They eat dogs. And scorpian. And sea horse. And they eat it alive. And pretty much anything I think. 

6. Most of the place and signage have english on it since the Olympics.

7. The country is actually very clean.

8. They have a very wide lanes. I guess it's china, they have all the land in the world to build 9 wide lanes for vehicles.

Up there in the mountains where the great wall stands glorifiyingly, it's very windy. And way much colder. The great wall - obviously - was our highlight. It is a structure of overwhelming physical presence ; a vast wall of earth, brick and stone topped by an endless procession of stout towers, rolling over craggy peak, and across deep ravines and barren deserts. But the great wall is more than a remnant of history. It is  massively symbolic of the tyranny of imperial rule; the application of mass labour; the ingenuity of engineers commissioned to work on a grandest scale; and the human desire to build for immortality. Utterly impressive and it stretches as far as 4000km which is equivalent to 2500mi. A must see. Even the coldest weather can't get through me when I witnessed the great wall.

The other place we went for was the summer palace

We didn't stayed long there. Again for the same reason. Very.Cold. And I was very hungry. We cooked instant brahims most of the days since we can check in our luggage.

Architecturally, Beijing wasn't as beautiful but the people and lifestyle was intriguing. The focal point of the country. Too bad we didn't managed to visit Hutong. Hutong is a very old village. More than 2000 years old which they still keep it for their heritage. One of which I wish I had the time to visit and maybe talk, sit down and have a cup with the locals and hear their stories. That'll be interesting.

Maybe one day.