Feet on the ground I can’t yet realize where I am but the
sounds of an Eastern music confirm my dream is coming true!
We get our luggage without problems. Outside we follow the numerous
travelers we suppose are going taking a bus. So we are soon in the town center were we continue by taxi to the Ciao-Yuan Hotel,
which Lonely Planet recommends. It’s a backpackers one.
At the reception they speak English offering us the best free
room, modest but clean for 12$.
The next morning we are looking for some breakfast. What to eat? Near the hotel many
pitiable snacks offer their traditional dishes but we are not disposed to taste them at this moment however we decided to
live the everyday life of the common Chinese.
On our
way, traveling kitchens equipped with an improvised furnace with on it, a pot “God knows what”! Finally we stay
in a rank where a “head cook” makes giant pancakes with fine chopped leek, eggs and hot seasoning. Very good!
Now we go by bus to the center of city. Impressive are the very
large and very long streets looking like a sea of bicycles accompanied by the uninterrupted sound of hundreds of bells. To
reach the other side of Don-Chang-Han (80m) slipping through the cyclists is literally an exploit. Entering the railway station
it’s not easy to find the right wicket with their indecipherable inscriptions. LP (Lonely planet) reports there is a
separate booking office for foreigners and soon we leave the station our tickets - sleeping car – for XIAN in the pockets. We spend the afternoon wandering up and down because we’ll visit Peking during
the last days of our stay in the country. I have to confront the public toilets which (according to the guide) are not only
without cabins but are also exempt of partitions! A pleasant surprise seeing impeccable lavabos and cabins. Though, I wonder
how it will look like elsewhere. I feel so exciting and in the same time a little afraid walking among a crowd of thousands
typical Chinese faces, to me all the same.
Comment
jeanette@sbb.co.yu
