Couchsurfing in Beijing and the off-the-beaten track Great Wall – Part 4

Arriving in Beijing the weather was awful but the welcome was warm as I was couch-surfing with a Chinese lady Ashley and her cousin.
Beijing has lots to offer. Tiananmen Square contains the monuments to the heroes of the revolution but when I got there the museums had already closed. I loved the palace though especially the garden with the windows looking inside as to how it would have been.
My highlights of Beijing have to be visiting The Great Wall of China something I’d looked forward to for a long time. My first view of the wall was through a sea of fog and tourists so a bit tainted but the best was yet to come… A few days day later, along with a fellow Chinese couch-surfer, a 5.30am start and over 8 hours of bus journeys I was not disappointed and had the most amazing day at Mutanyui, my best walking day yet!. There was absolutely no one else there, just the 2 of us, in the middle of nowhere hiking round the wall – bliss! Climbed a mountain to a ruined turret from the wall, went in it and up the stairs. While waiting for the return bus we got invited to wait in someone’s house, true Chinese hospitality and the most surreal experience. The couple had a concrete bed with a fire underneath for warmth, a grinder for corn and solar hot water. This is what I like so much about travelling, meeting real people in real places and experiencing their culture.

A day of rain saw me heading towards the old quarter and inside the Silk Market but not impressed as it was more like an expensive mall with snooty foreign tourists. Found a mosque which was much more interesting, similar architecture to the temples which was unexpected but much different culture and atmosphere obviously! Got some crazy chicken thing on the walk back home, had some red hot sauce in the middle!!. The fires at the corner of the street where not homeless or dodgy robbers as I’d assumed but it is a tradition from a family death in which they burn fake money!
For my final day in Beijing I met up with other couch-surfers from around the world to do a free walking tour. There were 13 of us in total from Australia, Russia, Israel and Taiwan, we talked and walked while sharing tales of our travelling adventures. A great end to my time in Beijing.