I travel to Beijing and stay at the Beijing Traditional Hotel for one night, then at the Dragon King Hostel which is very good and inexpensive, if a little run down. It is a very popular backpacker hostel and has an excellent bar with good cheap Western-style food and an excellent breakfast. While in Beijing I spend some time around the Lama Temple area and Houhai where I do some gift shopping for the family. I've already bought some fans, copies of Chairman Mao's quotations, and I have some yellow rice wine which I have placed in flasks. This was a gift from the owner of the little restaurant in the old town in Baoding which I often go to. Apparently it made by some villagers in the mountains.
During my time here I go into Huxleys and fall into conversation with an androgynous young Chinese (who I eventually find is female) and we have such a good time together we exchange contact details and hope to meet up again. She calls herself Phantom and is a worker in communications but wants to become a photographer. Her English is excellent and it turns out she has studied in the Netherlands.
I spend a few days in Beijing and at last have to make a very early start to the airport. This time I'm on a BA jumbo to London. I use the airport express to get there which is an extension of the Beijing underground network. I have a light lunch of dumplings in the departure lounge after checking in.
The flight is long and tedious, and slightly less comfortable than Air China as there seems to be less leg room. I feel they have squashed extra seats into the planes. However at length I can see the familar landscape of my homeland far below. It is a wonderful feeling.
I stay in Whitechapel in one of the halls of residence for the universities. It's basic but cheap especually for London. On the first night I'm too tired to eat anything so settle for an ear;y night. The next day I pick up my train ticket for Newark Station from King's Cross.
Nothing is ever what we expect it to be. When I get to London it feels like an extension of China, as it has that same feeling of being somehow other than English. However it is so much quieter than China, with, outside the centre, less people. I go back to the Prospect of Whitby, the pub I visited when I left for China, and have my first real English meal, pie and mash.
During my time here I go into Huxleys and fall into conversation with an androgynous young Chinese (who I eventually find is female) and we have such a good time together we exchange contact details and hope to meet up again. She calls herself Phantom and is a worker in communications but wants to become a photographer. Her English is excellent and it turns out she has studied in the Netherlands.
I spend a few days in Beijing and at last have to make a very early start to the airport. This time I'm on a BA jumbo to London. I use the airport express to get there which is an extension of the Beijing underground network. I have a light lunch of dumplings in the departure lounge after checking in.
The flight is long and tedious, and slightly less comfortable than Air China as there seems to be less leg room. I feel they have squashed extra seats into the planes. However at length I can see the familar landscape of my homeland far below. It is a wonderful feeling.
I stay in Whitechapel in one of the halls of residence for the universities. It's basic but cheap especually for London. On the first night I'm too tired to eat anything so settle for an ear;y night. The next day I pick up my train ticket for Newark Station from King's Cross.
Nothing is ever what we expect it to be. When I get to London it feels like an extension of China, as it has that same feeling of being somehow other than English. However it is so much quieter than China, with, outside the centre, less people. I go back to the Prospect of Whitby, the pub I visited when I left for China, and have my first real English meal, pie and mash.
I feel full of anxiety as I get ready to catch the train
back to Nottinghamshire and see Sarah
for the first time. We send each other constant messages. When I call from
London to say I’ve made it safely she is highly emotional.
I watch the English countryside roll past the train as I
travel north with delight and increasing anticipation.
On the platform at Newark Northgate Station I see Sarah for
the first time in nearly a year. We hold each other in our arms for several minutes
and she is quite tearful. It is a tender moment and we decide to make the most
of our time together. The first thing we do, as arranged is go to a village pub
for fish and chips with mushy peas! As
it’s a Friday what could be more appropriate?
The one thing I didn’t expect to find on coming back is that
it feels as if I haven’t been away and the whole thing was a dream! I have to go online and look through all my
blog entries to persuade myself anything that happened over the last year was
real!
There are numerous family gatherings planned over the next week and of course this is as it should be!
Something I have been looking forward to is roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding!
And of course time with Sarah! This is so precious now!
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