Trans-Siberian - China
From AlanMacek.com
| Trans-Siberian Trip |
| St. Petersburg and Moscow |
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| The Trans-Siberian |
| Siberia |
| The Trans-Mongolian |
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| The Ger Camp |
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| China |
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Train to Beijing
Having left Ulaanbaatar in the morning, we spent a day and a half on the train heading south and east to Beijing. The first day was spent crossing some low mountains and then the Gobi Desert.
The border crossing between Mongolia and China took several hours but was broken up by the changing of the wheels. Russia and Mongolia use 5ft broad gauge track, while China uses 4'8.5" standard gauge. Rather than moving passengers between carriages, the Chinese lift the carriages (and passengers) in the air and replace the wheels.
When we woke up the next morning in China, the train was climbing up to cross the mountains about 100km from Beijing. We crossed under the Great Wall in a 2km tunnel and then begin the descent into Beijing.
Beijing
| Wikipedia Links: |
| Beijing |
| Tiananmen_Square |
After freshening up at our hotel, we went for a walking tour of central Beijing, including the Tiananmen Square and some shopping streets and finishing with a delicious dinner.
| Wikipedia Links: |
| Mutianyu |
| Great_Wall_of_China |
Great Wall
The next morning we got up early for a 70km bus ride to the Great Wall at a spot called Mutianyu. We climbed up to the Wall on a ridge and spent a couple of hours wandering between the towers. The Great Wall is an unbelievable structure - it stretches about 6000km and along our stretch was about 7 metres high and 4 metres wide.
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To get down, we had an exciting ride down a toboggan ride (twice!).
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| Forbidden_City |
Forbidden City
After busing back to Beijing, I headed off by myself for a walk through of the Forbidden City. Not knowing much of the history, I mostly admired the ornate and colourful wooden buildings.
Departure
After a dinner of Peking Duck, we settled into a roof top lounge for cocktails and visiting for our last evening as a group. We had a beautiful view out over the city with construction cranes swinging over our heads as we enjoyed the evening. It was hard to believe that our journey together was over already.
The next morning, I shared a cab with George and Ann to the airport for my flight to Vancouver via San Francisco. Because of the timezones and date line, I arrived in Vancouver before I left Beijing. My whole family was there to meet me at the airport.
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After arriving in Vancouver, I spent about 10 days visiting my family and touring southern British Columbia with my girlfriend before flying home to Toronto. See pictures from British Columbia.