Beijing, China- Day 119 : A place to call home

Ever since we left India on May 6th, we haven't stayed in any one city for more than 5 nights. So it has been a welcome break to finally have an apartment in Beijing for 2 whole weeks. Its given us the opportunity to explore and appreciate this immense city without rushing ourselves. Immersing ourselves in Beijing has already helped Isaac pick up more Chinese than I have, and is constantly saying "Ni-hao"(Hello) and "Shaeshae"(Thank you).

Perhaps most disappointing has been the extent of urban pollution which Beijing got such a bad rap for during the Olympics. We haven't seen a blue sky and the city is always clouded under a gray smog. Pollution apart, Beijing has blown me away with not just its palatial temples and palaces but also its new urban identity. Anyone who visits will agree the metro and bus systems are among the best in the world and its futuristic skyscrapers are architectural marvels.

I will be posting more pictures on my FB album in a few days. In the meantime here's a video of Isaac at the Lama Temple -

Datong, China- Day 108-110: Dealing with excessive attention

Since arriving at Datong - a north eastern town in China, we have been overwhelmed with the attention that Isaac gets. We thought Turkey was excessive but Datong hits the ball out of the park. T and I are trying our best to politely ask people to stop taking pictures of Isaac. On our last day in Datong we were stalked by a hotel guest who insisted on gifting Isaac 1000 RMB ($146) which eventually led to an intervention by the hotel staff.

The picture above was taken when we went to laundromat to enquire about laundry services. In a few minutes we were surrounded by 12 or 15 locals staring and running after Isaac.

Datong is a coal mining town that ranks as one of the most polluted cities in China. Our main incentive to stop in Datong (enroute to Beijing) was to see the Yungang Grottoes - a collection of shallow caves with over 50,000 carved images and statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas which are over a 1000 years old. Apparently they closely resemble the Buddha statues that have been destroyed in Iraq.


About a 2 hours drive away is the Hanging Temple built into a steep cliff face near Mount Heng which dates to the 4th century. They were built above groundlevel so as to avoid being washed away in floods common at the time. At first glance the monastery looks precarious but were told that the horizontal beams that support the structure have been inserted deep into the rocks and the vertical beams (that look like they are holding up the temple) are merely decorative.

Mongolia to China- Day 107

The 23 hour train ride across Mongolia and into China was interesting for 3 reasons:

1. We were sharing a cabin with a man who was smuggling (or transporting) an entire bike disassembled into 10 different parts and tucked into various corners of our coupe.



2. It took us through the Gobi desert - a dramatic change from the lush valleys that we had seen for the better half of the morning.



3. The border control with China was painless but what had us fascinated was the gauge changing process. The train tracks in Mongolia and China differ, so the train was pulled into a shed, the train carriages were literally pulled apart like Lego pieces and lifted up while the gauges got switched. All of this while the passengers were still in the train!