I'll let this be the last Chinese picspam entry!

 

We had only one day in Beijing that was free of guided tours. I had thought to visit the zoo that day because it was not included to the tour and I wanted to see panda bears. Due the lack of Chinese language skills I had asked a local friend to become my personal guide for that day. Somehow, I found five local guides...

( pandas... )

 

The rickshaw man had some customers but I'm sure he dreamed about smaller ones. When you load two Europeans in a car like that, it's really heavy for the driver :(

( the cricket... )

This is probably the most famous historic attraction in China, the Great Wall. I had a chance to see a short piece of the wall and climb a bit the steps of the wall. As you may remember, I have practised with our less impressive stairs in Finland, so I was in good condition for climbing higher and higher. The weather could have been more clear but it was good enough.
( wall & tomb... )

Don't try these stunts at home!

P.S. Sorry about the hissing noise :(

We entered Tiananmen Square ("The Square of Heavenly Peace") through the security check; metal detectors, bags checked... After reading the history of China, you may know that this is a significant place because of many important events. Feel free to read your own history books...
( the square... )

The Forbidden City is a world heritage site of China. I'll let my photos to tell the story...



P.S. I borrowed a movie from my niece, "The Last Emperor". It's filmed on the authentical places in the Forbedden City. I've seen it before but I have to see the movie again - I will probably spot some familiar places...

 

Finally, late in the evening we arrived in China. Well, maybe I should not write "finally" because the journey didn't seem to be too long and I could have continued the train trip still for some days.

( arrived in Beijing... )

 

Finally, we crossed the border and continued our trip. The landscape changed, less green and much much more sand...

( one day in Mongolia... )

Early in the morning we arrived in the Lake Baikal area. The lake view opened after a tunnel and was something different. There are very few lakes along this railway.

 

Fishermen trying to catch some fish. The lake was still frozen but close the beach there were open waters.

( Lake Baikal... )

 

Novosibirsk, Krasnojarsk, Angarsk, Irkutsk...

( the journey continues through Siberian landscapes... )

 

In Moscow we hopped on a Chinese train that was going to be our "home" till Beijing.

( Train... )

A herd of Russian souvenir dolls. Which one does not belong to the group?

 

( Moscow... )

Day one.

I started my trip from Tampere by a local train to Helsinki from where the adventure was truly going to begin. The map shows the route. The Russian train "Tolstoi" was waiting for us.

 

( more... )