Borat and Mr. Bean visit the Great Wall.

October 9, 2011. Written in Luoyang, China.

Borat and Mr.Bean visit the great wall.

In the evening, I met a 59 year old man from Czech Republic. He was staying at the same room as me. His English was not very good, so I had to speak very slowly in order to make myself understood. He spoke English with a very funny accent, which immediatly made me think of Borat. His clumsy movement also made me think in the same direction. It was a very friendly and intellectual man though, and I liked him from the moment I met him. We talked about our plans in Beijing, and happened (which is not really a coincidence) to both be planning to pay a visit to the Great Wall, and decided together the next day.
"How late do you want to leave the guesthouse?" I asked him.
"Oh, not too early...maybe 6?"

For me, waking up at 6 in the morning was like running a marathon. When the man from Czech Republic woke me up, it took me more than 10 seconds to understand what was happening. I was so tired!

We took the subway to go the station were we could take a bus that goes directly to the wall. We couldn't find the bus, but met some students from France that were also searching for it. On our way, a Chinese man tried to rip us off.
"No buses today! I can bring you there for 100 Yuan" he said.
Yeah sure, and you know tea-houses where one cup of tea costs 4000 Yuan.

Once we found the bus to the wall, we paid 12 Yuan and entered the bus full of Chinese tourists. It was a drive of about one hour. Despite Beijing being such a huge city, our sight out of the window became rural quite quickly.

After arriving, Borat and Mr.Bean took some quick snacks at one of the many touristic shops near the wall. The way Borat ate his skewers looked really funny. The French people had already moved on while we were eating.

My first impression of the Great Wall was not the cliche thing. Not the incredible length of it, nor the realizing that I was at a place that could just be the most famous place in the world. I was just astonished by the incredible amount of Chinese tourists that were climbing the wall. It was even worse than Tokyo rush-hour trains! People were standing in lines to be able to make their next step. At least, that was what the right side looked like. The left side however, was a bit less crowded, and Borat and Mr.Bean chose to go that way. It was still full of people, but at least we could move around freely. Bit by bit, I was now able to get the impressions I should have had from the start. The craziness of this place. It just could goes on and on. How could people have ever even thought of starting such a crazy project?  Insane, felt like a much better word to describe it rather than beautiful. And of course it was and still is a record for achievements made by human.

At the end of where you could go (of course there was more, but it was prohibited) we met the French guys again. They were now going to the other side and try to fight with the Chinese people. I asked Borat if he cared for that, but he told me that he was too old for such a thing.

After we left the site and went back to the city, we decided to now pay a visit to Summer Palace. A place that a friend of mine had recommended me. It is far less famous than the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, but I liked it way better. It was such a beautiful place. Definitely the best I have seen in Beijing. Basically, it is just a temple, but it is surrounded by a huge lake. Whether you watch the temple from near the lake, or watch the lake from the top of the temple (which is pretty high), it is both just breathtaking. My friend had described it as the only quiet place in Beijing, but this was not true. Maybe not as much as the Great Wall, but still, Summer Palace as well was filled with Chinese tourists.

On our way back, we decided to visit Beijing station, and buy our tickets to leave the city. I had not been at the station before (the train from Tianjin arrived at Beijing South), but this station looked like a giant mosque!

 I was glad to be able to have a look at the station and the street in front of it, since my train to Luoyang the next day happened to depart from Beijing West station. I was able to get a ticket for only 105 Yuan (1200 Yen, 12 Euro), which felt really cheap for a ride with duration of 11 hours. Borat, however, was less lucky. To the city he wanted to go to, there were only standing tickets available for the day he wanted to go. He found himself too old for that and asked for the next day. On this day, all was available was a first-class seat. He had to pay 800 Yuan for this, while his city is only a few hours further than mine.

When we came back to the guesthouse, it was still only 7 PM. If you wake up early, one day seems like forever!