BEIJING: Looking For The Olympic Rings

The train ride from Hangzhou to Beijing was probably the longest of all bullet train journeys I have had in China. Generally, it was very loud on any train in China. I have not even seen one of the “silent rooms” as I am used to in Germany.

Most Chinese on the train expressed excitement about their journey talking excitedly with their neighbours. During my journey I found out that most Chinese cannot afford a holiday out of China, that’s why they are very pleased to travel within their huge country.

This train had a regular speed of 302 km/h and you could hardly feel the speed.

As soon as we arrived in Beijing and passed the ticket gate, Chinese people were waiting and starting to grab our arms and wanting our tickets. I was wondering what that was for, perhaps they wanted to use the tickets again.

As we were starving after a long train ride, we decided to go into the KFC at the train station, which caused difficulties as the servers did not speak any English. Luckily a Chinese woman next to us spoke English and helped us out.

My first impression in Beijing was that there were more European tourists walking around and most of them seemed to be comfortable getting around in Beijing.

After having checked in at the hotel, we decided to see the Olympic stadium which is still one of the most visited sights in Beijing.

It has a great concrete structure and is lit with red and yellow colours being placed on a huge square.

Next, we went to Tian’anmen Street, which reminded me of the Champs Elysees, but is probably five times bigger.

This street is just so big and I felt so small when I was walking down the streets. If you cannot get to sleep one day, you could go to the flag-raising ceremony in Tian'anmen Square which takes place every morning before sunrise. As I love my sleep, I could not make it that early to the street.