It was a trip purely for pleasure, of course. I took a direct flight from Taipei to Beijing, now that it is possible. It might be a little bit more expensive than flying through Macao or Hong Kong, but you get there in only three hours. If the trip is only for three days, as in my case, it is an important factor in the decision.
I arrived to the new Terminal 3, another monster in the middle of nowhere —some megalomaniac countries have this obsession—, finished for the olympic games. I was picked up there and we headed back to Taipei in a taxi. My first impression of Beijing were concrete towers and freeways everywhere under a grey sky. Fortunately, I had my own Sun next to me, so to speak.
After lunch,
and experiencing my first bus trip —with one guy collecting money inside if you did not have the magnetic car, a curious mix of old and new times— we went to the Summer Palace.
It was the summer residence of the emperors, where they escaped from the royal court. Now, it is a very large and beautiful public park.
With the old buildings in a reasonable good state, even if there are signs of old destructions in some of them, and with magnificent forests and lakes.
A very nice place that we peacefully toured as the afternoon was slowly dying away. After so much time in Taipei, the temperature difference was almost shocking.
On our return to the city, with a mix-up of bus stops included, I had a first experience of the huge amount of people on the streets, and the accompanying chaos, and a very pleasant night taxi trip back home looking at the very modern-looking buildings along the way. A promising first day.
(There will be more)
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