6 September

Tianjin, China.

I was woken up in crisp clean white sheets by the gentle tapping of room service on my door,  bringing my pre ordered breakfast. After breakfast, a shower and more coffee, it was time to be on the move again and leave this place of luxury and bellboys.
I had an hour long taxi ride to Beijings south train station where the bullet train (300kph+) would blast me to my Hansen contact in Tianjin. The bullet train was fantastic, cheap (1st class to Tianjin for €7!), clean, modern and as punctual as a swiss clock, making the English intercity 125 trains look positivly ancient and defunct! As we reached speeds of up to 333kph (there was a sign informing the passengers of the speed) I tried to soak up some scenery, but the air quality is so bad here that there wasn't much to see due to the smog. Within 30 minutes I was in Tianjin station and struggling with my overloaded cheapo bag that I had bought from Mongolia. The shoulder strap snapped leaving me struggling with 25kgs of fake Adidas sports bag! (Note to self: buy something with wheels on!). My driver was waiting for me as expected at the station exit and he whisked me off in air conditioned comfort to my home for the next 3 days, a Holiday Inn.
I hadn't seen anything of China yet so it was time to explore, I had seen a market on the drive to the hotel and I was keen to go wandering around . It was alive with strange sounds, smells, vegetables and animals, waiting to be or being butchered! I resisted the temptation to buy strange foods as I was looking forward to eating in the hotel restaurant.
A wander into a department store finally beat my credit card into submission as I found what I had been looking for over the past few weeks, my wedding ring! I think the price was good and the quality of gold is far better than that of european gold. Its just a plain gold band, not like Liane's, she has something special, but that's a secret (sorry Liane, you'll have to wait and see!)
Back in the hotel my stomach told me it was dinner time, off to the hotel chinky to see what was on offer! I opted for soup of the day (always a mistake because its the previous days food), Peking duck (it was cold and not crispy) and duck rice (there was no rice with it!). I won't be eating there again, I left hungry and unsatisfied. I knew I should have played food roulette in the market (close your eyes, spin your finger and point at something, open eyes then enjoy or not!).
A late night walk revealed the underbelly of the city. Its hot and humid and all the 'street meat' stalls seem to come out at night, people sitting on low stools, almost at street level, eating all manner of strange foods. Bicycles with flashing signs ride around toting their wares, people escaping the heat of inside their houses or shops playing majong and other board games. But this city seems to be pretty much like any other at night, cafes, restaurants, drunks, prostitutes and taxi's dominate the darkness, but I felt no sense of danger and didn't mind wandering about.
Tomorrow's plan is to go looking for a market and find some luggage on wheels on to save my poor old back!