Monday 29th February
We awoke as the train was beginning its approach to Beijing. The scenery here is dramatic as the train crosses crop land, gullies and mountains which were the original gateway to Mongolia and beyond for the tea, silk and spice traders of the past.
There are 60 tunnels to navigate and stunning scenes of canyons, frozen rivers, soaring rock towers and evidence of loess (the wind and water born deposits) of this part of Asia.
Passing through the heavily industrialised suburbs of Beijing we arrived at Beijing Main railway station at 11:35 a.m. five minutes early! The travellers think this is particularly good as we have travelled a total of 7,857km from Moscow on the same train. We are now ready for a shower as the carriage showers were not working!
Post shower – We have had a little exploration, but more photographs tomorrow and a dinner in a French restaurant served by Chinese waiters. But we did eat Chinese at lunch!