Good Morning Blog,
Yawning... We left the motel and took an early 'grab' (a slightly bigger vehicle) to Harbin Train Station.
 |
| Days at Harbin were short, hope I will come here again |
 |
| Thanks goodness, it is somehow near the motel, 25 mins ride. |
But the duration to Beijing is 8 hours! I try to squeeze all the winter clothing to my luggage and wore something light; I can endure the cold for a while. I will miss Harbin for now.
 |
| Time to sit until we gain more weight |
 |
| Interior of Harbin Railway Station |
 |
| Less crowded eased my tension |
 |
| Enjoyed my Taro Pie from MacDonald and waited for the departure time |
 |
| Once we stepped out from the waiting zone, everyone started to rush for the train. |
 |
| Looked like a plane, don't you think so? |
 |
| Good bye Harbin. *wave* |
 |
| Some interior view of the train |
 |
| at least a window seat gave me a quiet moment to reflect and draft my blog post |
 |
| 8 hours of train ride as compared to 11 hours train ride (in my previous China trip here), this was nothing. |
 |
| I can handle it |
 |
| I wish to experience more of this side of Harbin than city district |
 |
| Everyone seemed happy |
 |
| Instead of clouds, you see railway and cables |
 |
| China is SO huge |
 |
| Distance between Harbin to Beijing is 1,241 kilometers |
 |
| Time to take a good nap |
 |
| And selfie session in the smelly toilet |
 |
| If you look at the picture here without knowing the content, believe me - it is just looked like a plane shot. |
 |
| Dining area - what a way to make business |
 |
| Finally, we reached Beijing! |
 |
| Believe me the crowd here was overwhelming! |
 |
| I won't mind the crowd though, but the smoke (smokers!) was omg-intrusive! |
 |
| Long empty underpassage |
 |
| How I wished it will be this spacious |
 |
| PEOPLE IS EVERYWHERE! |
 |
| Welcome to Beijing and it was cold like Harbin (lesser) |
 |
| Safe ride. Thanks Heaven. |
 |
| We took a cab to our hotel... |
 |
| We divided our group to two and let the locals to lead us to the hotel |
 |
| When we alighted... my first thought was... where is the hotel? |
 |
| I don't see any tall building |
 |
| besides residential building |
 |
| take a picture first before thinking. |
 |
| Okay! We were on the right track, we had to walk in and here was the hotel which MQ booked for us. The hotel looks rather deserted but don't be fooled by the exterior because in the city zone of Beijing, it is surrounded by 胡同 HuTong traditional courtyard residences (read more). |
 |
| Interesting name - Speed 8 Inn |
 |
| Small reception corner |
 |
| Seems clean |
 |
| With expensive lighting |
 |
| Tiring faces |
 |
| and we had a problem... |
We just found out that this hotel doesn't accept foreigner.
|
|
| Oh well. Hope for the Best and Prepare for the Worst. I shall leave the local to handle this. |
So we had to find another hotel nearby and thanks goodness we managed to get it but...
 |
| Meanwhile, let's appreciate the HuTong building. Beautiful. |
 |
| Fa Hua Shi - FaHua Temple |
 |
| Feeling like going back to the past |
 |
| The another hotel is located somewhere deeper into the residential zone. |
 |
| We had arrived to this remote hotel |
 |
| Interesting Revolving door |
 |
| Smaller reception corner |
 |
| Decent and simple looking |
 |
| If you can read Chinese, here are some suggested tourist attractions which you can consider visiting. |
 |
| Hmm... small room... where you can barely move around |
 |
| a simple toilet and worst of all... the glass panel is TRANSPARENT which you can see your friends/parents bathing inside... |
Personally, I am okay with any condition, as long as it is clean.
But my mother and aunt got a bit jumpy and nag nag nag...
Seriously!
Beijing is rather expensive to stay, just like Singapore, instead of demanding to stay at a better hotel but those will cost us a bomb, they claimed they can afford it...
Just to save some face-value. They just don't want their SG friends to know they are staying in such "cheapo" room... (like hotel 81...) If they travel with some of my richer cousins, they won't have to worry their accommodation and travel at ease.
Seriously... if we learn how to adapt than expect the environment to adapt to us, we will have a peaceful and happy trip... "
To know a person, just simply travel with them; you will be able to see their true form."
"
It is a blessing if you manage to find someone who is a pleasure to travel with."
Anyway... As long as we are safe, no accident, no lost, no robbery and no sickness, we should be thankful.
 |
| Had my usual dinner and prepared to rest the night, hearing the whole complaint again and again |
Now let's sleep early for
Day 5 - Forbidden City 紫禁城
Jeff
The train that you took from Harbin to Beijing is it a high speed train or normal train? Yes nowadays the train is super nice. It is not easy to move around on your own in China. Your ex-tenant did not follow you to Beijing.Surprise to know that there are 2 type of hotels and you manage to book a hotel at the last minute. You will find smokers everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt is a high speed train which travels at 245km/h! So fast! Yeah it is not easy to move around because we don’t have any connection there so it is risky. My ex-tenant did accompany us to Beijing.
DeleteNot just two type of hotels, there come with different pricing too. Haha if can afford, five stars all the way, but nope. Yes uncle jimmy, smoker is everywhere!!!
It is great to have MQ with you all throughout the tour. Beijing is a busy city with many locals and tourists. We were there many years back with only a tour guide to being us round.
ReplyDeleteYeah, nowadays the locals just rely on their own "Google" map and read the reviews, they will be able to go anywhere they want
Delete