Day 3

Beijing to Xi'an

Date - 5 May

Weather - Cool, very windy, blue sky

Accommodation - Grand Barony Hotel, Xi'an

What a difference a day makes! We woke to haze but it quickly disappeared with the cool, strong winds which stayed all day. CNN News was reporting on the previous day's dust storm that blanketed NE China including Beijing saying it was indeed a health hazard. 

As we were flying from Beijing to Xi'an later in the day we had to place our bags outside our hotel room ready for collection at 7.45am. The day was again a busy and varied one and was very enjoyable. 

Mike was concerned that we could have left something behind in our hotel room so he gave us morning exercises before we set off in the coach. This involved checking ourselves for watches, rings, passports, wallets, phones, chains and false teeth!

Our day started at a freshwater pearl factory. There was a brief and informative presentation on how the freshwater pearls are different from sea water pearls, their varied colourings and how to differentiate between fake and real pearls. The fresh water pearls come in four colours - pink, black, white and purple and their beautiful colours are determined by the minerals in the water. Most of the women in our group, including me, couldn't resist the beautiful pearls either for themselves or for presents for their family.

Close by to the pearl factory was the impressive Summer Palace. Despite the brisk wind which swept across the man-made lake we spent a couple of enjoyable hours there. The Summer Palace sits high on a hillside overlooking the lake and a temple sitting on a small island.

 A canal connects the site to the Forbidden City and the Emperor would travel by water between the two sites. The area is very picturesque and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Of particular interest was a long wooden-covered corridor 728m in length which was originally built in 1750 and rebuilt in 1886 after the Anglo-French burned it down.

The corridor was used by the Emperor and members of his family to walk alongside the lake to take in the views and be protected from any inclement weather. We walked the length of the corridor taking in more than 8,000 different colourful paintings on the wooden ceiling. At the end of the corridor was the stone boat. 

At lunchtime we were returned to the Old Beijing Hutong area where we had been the previous evening for a home-cooked lunch and it was a lot of fun. We were given a rickshaw ride through an old residential area through narrow alleyways.

Close to our destination our rickshaw's bike chain broke and our poor driver had to push the bike for a way before we got out and walked to meet the rest of the group outside a private residence. On our return our rickshaw driver had fixed the chain. The lunch was delicious and all home-made or as Mike called it, "Mum taste food". 

Our group ate a wide range of local food in a small room under high wooden beams with hanging gourds, a chandelier and a portrait of Mao. The woman who cooked the food gave a talk about her family and the history of the house and courtyard. Mike ably translated her story for us. It was a lovely touch at the end of the meal.

We returned in our rickshaws to our coach and we immediately set off for the airport for our 7.00pm flight to Xi'an. The China Eastern Airlines flight was 30 minutes late. It went south-west to Xi'an and the flight took 1.5hours. We arrived at our hotel at 11.00pm and we were in bed at 11.30pm very tired after a busy but another great day. 

We thoroughly enjoyed Beijing. There was an abundance of large trees and rose gardens throughout the city which we didn't expect and it was good to see. It also didn't seem crowded despite the city having such a large population. The smog is a huge problem for the city but surprisingly it was litter-free and a very clean city. During our three days of touring we certainly saw the highlights of what the city had to offer and we were impressed. 

Tomorrow is the Terracotta Warriors and Horses.