China's National Day holiday & train ticket system

How time flies....already its November, which is usually the time when we all realize that its almost the end of the year and reminisce at how quickly the past 10 months have gone by. I am now into my 8^th month in China and am still enjoying every bit of my time here. I got to meet most of the newly arrived AYADs for Intake 14 during their welcoming dinner while I was in Beijing, and I couldn´t believe that 7 months ago we were in their shoes.

Yet again, I´ve been on another trip to explore the beauty of this country and have returned satisfied with my recent adventures. However, itching I always am to go traveling, I must say that its always good to come back home and am glad to be back here in Jiamusi and resting in my own abode instead of another hostel or sleeper train. Living out of a suitcase and traveling on trains was getting really tiring. I was sad to leave Beijing though because I love the city, and would love to live there for a year if I had the opportunity to return back to China. There's just so much to do and see in Beijing, and its so rich in culture.

Beijing was where my adventures started. We arrived there in time for the beginning of China´s one week National Day public holiday. This is usually the time when its advisable not to do any traveling within China as their domestic tourism goes ballistic. Everyone is frantic trying to get tickets at the exact same time as every other billion person of the population, which makes it a headache time to get around.

Just to give you a brief introduction into China´s train ticket system: - (1) you cannot book tickets in advance unless you have connections with someone working within the train station, (2) you can only buy tickets 3 - 4 days in advance (which makes planning a trip ahead of time a tricky task, and (3) buying tickets at the train station is an experience you´ll never forget. Something like out of a battle scene, as everyone pushes to try and get to the front (no queues in China). And then when you do finally get to the front you have to shout out as fast to as you can to the ticket officer where you want to go, when, either sleeper or seater, and the train number if possible. Its every man and dog for himself in the world of buying train tickets in China. Quite an hilarious system really, and one that needs a massive overhaul if it is to be able to manage the millions of foreign tourists that will be arriving in 2008 for its Olympic games.

China´s National Day one week holiday, ran from 1^st to 7^th October, and was celebrated with a gigantic flower display in the centre of Tiananmen square. A flag raising ceremony at dawn was also conducted at Tiananmen on the first day of the month, which I heard was packed full of people trying to get a glimpse of the event. The downtown shopping mall called Wangfujing, was also packed full of people spending their national holiday shopping and eating.

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Shopping mall of Wangfujing during National Day holiday

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Inner Mongolia

During the one week public holiday, me and a few of my AYAD friends decided to head across to Inner Mongolia (which even though goes against the advice not to travel during this crazy week, the peak period of Inner Mongolia´s tourist season had just passed so we were relatively safe in trying to avoid the masses). We visited Hohhot (capital city of Inner Mongolia), Hohhot´s museum, went horse riding and drank Mongolian milk tea at Xilamuren grassland (2hours from Hohhot), stayed in fake yurt (floors of the yurts where made out of concrete and its frame were bolted together for permanency instead of the genuine nomadic yurts which can be readily disassembled and transported), and rode camels through the sand dunes at the Resonant Sand Gorge (near the town of Baotou - 1 ½ hours from Hohhot). Twas all-in-all a very touristy tour package that we got. Next time I go, I think I´ll stay away from the tours and visit during the period between June to August which is when the grasslands are supposedly at its most beautiful and lush green colour.

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Inner Mongolia's grassland

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Sand dunes & a runaway camel at the Resonant Sand Gorge

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Beautiful scenery on the road to Hohhot and Beijing

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Dylan's visit

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Hanging out in Beijing

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Great Wall at Xiangshuihu village

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Sweet old lady with bounded feet

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Huangshan Mountains

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Tunxi or Huangshan city

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Datong

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Hanging Temple

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Buddhist grottoes at Cloud Ridge Caves

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Cute camel at Cloud Ridge Cave

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Fragrant Hill in Beijing

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View of Beijing's skyline from a distance

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Photos of Fragrant Hill

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Cute puddy cat @ Sculpting in Time cafe

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