Forbidden places and the Wall

Three weeks ago we decided to flee the big city of Nanjing for a weekend and take the nighttrain to Beijing (another big city). Aude and her mum, who was paying us a visit at that time, went a day ahead of us in order to have some extra time and see more of the capital of China. Aude gone, "us" meant Anita from Vienna and me. Being positively surprised by the luxury of the "soft sleeper" train we booked to cover the distance of around 1000km from Nanjing to Beijing asleep, we arrived reasonably rested Saturday morning in Beijing and following Audes instructions we found ourselves soon having a shower and a very nice continental style breakfast in the youth hostel (one after the other of course, first shower then breakfast!).

Strengthend by eggs, bacon, Semmeln and loads of coffee and juice we were ready to visit the forbidden city in the heart of Beijing overlooked by the huge portrait of Mao and guarded by his mausoleum, a couple of soldiers and thousands of mostly chinese tourists (in sheer numbers the chinese are the majority anywhere usually). Fortunately most of them decided to see Maos corpse in the mausoleum, which meant wainting in a 500m queue. That was a fine example that the chinese actually know what a queue is and that it doesnt necessarily mean to cluster as tight as possible and work your ellbows, knees and feet on the person beside, behind and under you. But the 50 guards establishing and maintaining oder in the waiting process might have a share in this unusal behaviour as well.

Inside the forbidden city we got the chance to visit around 20 rooms all labeled empirial treasures and displaying all sorts of pots, silverware, weapons and other household appliances, hundreds of little alleys, houses, yards and nice garden. I liked it a lot and could have spent hours exploring all corners and sidestreets of this maze. And that's what we did ;-)
Taking the opportunity of passing through a vast park with loads of trees, green grass, life singing and music of varying quality and the mandatory pagodas, we found a little tranquility and relaxation.
Back in the youth hostel, which is located in the old part of Beijing, with the authentic little houses and alleys. According to rumours form different sources that makes the hostel rather hard to find.

The next day we got up early in order to go via Mini Bus to the Great Wall. We went to a section called Huang Hua Cheng, also known as the wild part of the wall. That is not exaggerated and partly I was wishing for some climbing utensils like helmets and shoes. But we mastered the Great Wall and will never snigger again at the T-Shirts proudly proclaiming "I climbed the Great Wall!", even a slogan "I survived the Great Wall!" doesnt seem too much, especially if it rains.
But the choice of the wild part was perfect, because we were alone on the first part of the wall hike/climb and met only a french group (some say they're everywhere) on the second half. We got some awesome views and great respect for the poor guys building this thing on the top of the mountain ridges.
Back in Beijing after 2 hours of crazy minibus we treated ourself with a shower and a delicious chinese dinner before taking the train back to Nanjing. Losing my ticket on the train created some confusion and a long search turning the cabin upside down on the way back, but after a while we all slept and arrived refreshed and ready to work (at least in the official version) in Nanjing on Monday morning.