About 2 years ago, Thomas asked me to be best man in his wedding. His traditional chinese wedding. In China. I cherished the honour, and happily got to see a bit of his birth country as well.
This certainly became a trip of contrasts. Starting up, I thought I would spend 14 hours on the concrete floor at the terminal at Doha, Qatar. No, it turned out passengers were entitled to a hotel stay.
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| The hotel room (beats concrete, yes?) |
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| A nearby mosque |
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| An impulsive Doha bay cruise with other travellers |
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| Business district by night |
Doha from the hotel roof
And the next day:
"Sorry, sir, we had to change your ticket."
Me: "Oh..."
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| Qatar Airways business class (shamefully stolen picture) |
After a start like that, I feared the rest of the trip would be boring. Shame on me.
Beijing.
I ran around planning my trip a little bit more, and saw a few sights.
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| Bell tower |
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| Temple of heaven |
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| Gotta get those details... |
Typical get-together in Temple of heaven park
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| Also met up with the bride and groom (the latter not present here) |
I stayed in small hostels in what they call Hutongs, small narrow streets with single floor housing. Very cute, intimate and cozy. And sadly un-documented.
Xi'an
A stopover getting to know the old capital of China.
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| Biking on the city wall |
Hua Shan
The holy tao mountain to the west.
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| In the valley on the way up |
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| The chinese are crazy |
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| Looking one way... |
Looking the other way...
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| A cave I slept in |
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Hua Shan in the morning. The drop is 1,5 km.
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"This is stupid. And the cellphone is slippery."
Wudang Shan
More of the same, really.
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| The summit. 60 ton copper temple on the top. |
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| Some nice photographers I met and later partied with |
Yichang - Cruise on Chang River
Street karaoke! I had to join!
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| Wet, gray and nice |
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| Can't beat that feeling |
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| It's just like a norwegian fjord! |
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| The happy happy shared toilet on board |
Back to Beijing, and then wedding in Bazhou
When the 4 day cruise was over, I was sortof in a rush to get back to Beijing. I bought the first and best train ticket, which turned out to be a 3rd class, 24 hour standing ticket. I dreaded the departure, but actually, after 20 hours, I looked down the carriage, and thought it would be sad for this fine train ride to be over so soon... (Stockholm syndrome, anyone?)
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| This guy helped me get a seat. |
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| My tailor |
And then there was wedding! I'm currently waiting for pics from the semi-pro's that where blitzing all over the place. The chinese are really something else when it comes to hospitality and parties. Rest assured, a nice update will come!
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| Only picture I have of the wedding. Happy bride and groom walking up to their parents and representatives. |
Going home:
"Excuse me, sir, the plane is overbooked. We are looking for volunteers for seats in business class."
Me: "Oh..."
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| Yes, you've seen this one before. |
You think it is lonely travelling by yourself?
And at last: Funny signs.
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| Sign by some stairs on the tourist boat |
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| It should say: "Stay in line." |
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| Tourist trap, anyone? |
