China – 1,3 billion people, a totally foreign language, exotic food and lots of places to explore. Our route in this huge country lead us from Beijing to Xi’an, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie and Shanghai.

The first stop was the Chinese captial, where we were already expected by two familar faces, Sonja and Boris.

We spend 3 great days with them and explored the city and its surroundings, accompanied by awesome weather. Against all rumours, the sky in Beijing can actually turn blue and we even saw it during two whole days.

Our little tour group was lead by Sonja, as she is quite familiar with the Chinese culture and language and therefore made a perfect tour guide. We visited many well-known spots together. Amongst them were: the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, Beihai Park, the Temple of Heaven, the Olympic Park and the Chinese Wall in Badaling. We also saw a Chinese Acrobatic Show and had great fun there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As most of the Chinese people take their vacation in July and August, many of the sights were crowded. Nevertheless, it is still very impressing to stand on the wall or enter the Forbiddden City.

Apart from sightseeing, we of course enjoyed delicious Chinese food, drinks and especially the nice company.

Hot Pot

Spicy Bullfrog

 

As the two of us had one more day in Beijing before leaving to Xi’an, we could also visit the Summer Palace. A very nice and huge park area, more than perfect on such hot summer days.