Welcome to Beijing

I had a window seat on the upper level of the traincar going into Beijing. It was a 3 hour journey with only one stop on the way. And across from me sat a man who was getting off at that stop.

He was Chinese, but had Australian citizenship - so that led to some very interesting conversation about how and why. We talked about how he was able to acquire citizenship when he fled China after the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. We talked about living in Australia vs. living in China and how he wanted to move back when he got older. He is now living in China because he is married to a Chinese woman and has a small child - and he doesn't want to risk trying to leave under these circumstances. We also talked about traveling as a foreigner in China, the language, the food and so on.

After he got off, I was fortunate to find that the young man who had been sitting next to him also spoke English. His name is Lucky Yang. Beijing is his hometown and he asked me if I had been to Beijing before. No. Do you know where you are staying? Yes. Do you know how to get there? I think so, I am going to take bus #52. Can I help you to make sure you get on the bus? Yes, that would be very nice!

We arrived in Beijing at 9 p.m., after dark. Lucky got on bus #52 with me and asked to see my guidebook to read the directions to the hostel. Along the way he pointed out the important buildings and told me that the bus was traveling along the most famous road in China - Chang-an. It was great to have my own personal guide!

He then said that he thought there was a better way to get to the hostel and so we got off at the Tiananmen stop - and what a nice introduction. The massive square is well lit at night and there was very little traffic. We had to walk through the square to catch a taxi - he said it was too far to walk to the hostel.

And how nice to have someone who speaks the language helping me out. We hopped into a cab and between Lucky and the cab driver and a few folks on the street we eventually pulled up outside the hostel, which is tucked away on a tiny lane in one of the old hutongs (Chinese neighborhoods). We both got out of the cab, I hoisted my pack on my back and asked if I could pay for the taxi. He said no, no, as he hopped back into the front seat and then he said welcome to Beijing! Indeed!!

Thank you very much Lucky!