China TTC’ers Living On The Edge| 4 min read

exploring the city, picking up some of the language, learning the ways of scoring a bargain at markets, finding some neat restaurants and singing my heart out at KTV it’s hard to believe it’s only been just over a week since our first day here.

But it doesn’t stop there. Yesterday, the TTC’ers continued their journey across Beijing and immersed ourselves into this exciting culture. After an interesting drive through the city, observing this foreign dynamic driving system or lack of system on the road, accompanied by an enthusiastic tour guide (at times a bit of a schadenfreude), he made it an unforgettable experience nevertheless. First stop, Tiananmen Square. As expected, Tiananmen Square was a marvelous sight to take in, with commodious grounds to walk at your own leisure (440,000 square metres), proving to be just what the name translates to, Gate of Heavenly Peace. Seeing countless amount of people coming to this one place was to observe this sight was splendid, but nothing could distract anyone’s attention from the humid weather. So after a quick lap, we soon found shelter back to the, (so far) air-conditioned buses to an elegant restaurant, where traditional Chinese meals were awaiting our hungry stomachs.

The TTC’ers were treated to several delicious meals, including deep fried fish, stir-fried vegetales, green vegetables and chicken, and a tasty sweet & sour dish accompanied by jasmine tea, followed by a juicy slice of watermelon. After our stomachs had settled, we were on the road again, to see the beautiful Summer Palace.

After a short walk from where our buses dropped us off at, we were standing in front of the big red doors, entry to the stunning Summer Palace. With one step over a heightened floor we walked through the entrance and took-in the spectacular sights, including the bronze Qilin statue. Some TTC’ers were clever enough to avoid the heat and found the air-conditioned gifts shop early on. Shortly after a little exploration we continued through to the waterside anddelved into the chinese concept of patience, after about a dozen snaps on different camera’s trying to get a group photo. This little taste of the palace enthused us even further to pioneer onwards walking below the meticulously crafted walkways and ponder through this well populated area.

As time went by we walked over bridges, under towers, through the walkways and by the water until we same to the exit, but for some brave TTC’ers, a stop at the 4-Star toilets were in order, regretted quite shortly afterwards I believe. After everyone was counted for we retired to our bus, although this time one bus’ AC had a malfunction, which, to say the least, was quite uncomfortable, especially in 34 degree temperature. Approximately one hour later, we quite happily left the bus’s and went to the San Li Tun Markets, where a fair few people manage to find some great bargains, whereas others took a more relaxing option and got a manicure/pedicure, whilst other people spent their time exploring the area. We were then met by our bus’s which, thankfully, both had AC, taking us to our next destination, dinner and Acrobatics.

I think I can say this on pretty much all the TTC’ers behalf, that we enjoyed the best peking duck we’ve ever eaten. After a fantastic array of tasty dishes, the wait was finally over. What went down: Peeling a finely sliced sheet of what looked like a very skinny pancake onto our plates, then adding a cucumber, followed by placing a few shreds of succulant duck onto the pancake and topping it off by drizzling some sauce over the top, then wrapping it up with a few folds and finally inserting that into your mouth, utterly exquisite. Our amazement didn’t end there though, we soon travelled to the Acrobatics World and were blown away by the skillful, talented, clever performances presented by world class performers. A truly extraordinary show, where nothing seemed impossible. Boundaries were pushed, whilst balanced with the just the right amount of creativity to leave you in suspense and not know what’s going to happen next. Absolutely Spectacular.

I think it’s safe to say, we’re all going to love it here in China, it’d be impossible not to!