Its 2007

Well i’m now up to date with the posts, its Wednesday the 3^rd of January – 2007! We arrived back from Beijing yesterday evening, tired and out of pocket. Not wanting to spend New Years Eve in Shijiazhuang, everybody headed to Beijing on New Years Eve, after teaching until lunch time. There were 14 of us in total, which made organising transport even more difficult than ever, but finally, at about 7 o’clock, we arrived at our beloved Hostel – The Jade International Youth Hostel.

A bit of advice for anyone wishing to ever travel to Beijing, take your passport, or a photocopy thereof. Anthony, our French friend, photocopied his when he arrived in China, but hadn’t photocopied it since updating his travel visa to a residence permit. Therefore, the receptionists would not let him check in to the hotel, even though he lived two hours away, it was New Years Eve and there was little or no chance of him getting a room anywhere else. The problem was solved however, by him sneaking up to one of our rooms and simply sleeping on the floor. Ah China.

We had planned on seeing the New Years in, on the roof of the hostel, overlooking Beijing. Quite a romantic idea, one that didn’t materialise when we found, at 11:58pm, that the roof had been locked. So it was a mad dash down the stairs, were we congregated outside. A few cheers later, it was over and we were back inside, downing the beers again. The rest of the night was spent at Browns, of which I can remember very little!

The next day, Charlie and I checked into the Shangri-La China World Hotel, catchy name I know. After our great stay in the same chain in Xi’an, this hotel was equally as good. I won’t bore you with more details of random hotels, but compared to our day to day life in Shijiazhuang, this was like being in heaven for 24 hours. Unfortunately, I have returned from heaven, with nothing but a bag full of hotel products. The slippers are exceptionally comfy!