First I went to Beijing by overnight sleeper train. The train was the brand new bullet train (D3, see photo)
which saves a couple of hours but costs extra. It cost me 700rmb versus the usual 470rmb. I really didn't need to save a couple of hours so I was a little disappointed that i couldn't get tickets on the slower, older train. You can pay half that price if you are willing to go "hard sleeper" on the slower train -- this is exactly what I did on my return journey. Slow but cheap and pretty much as comfortable. I don't think I will do "soft sleeper" again. It's just not worth it. Also, you meet more people when you do "hard sleeper". It's a much more social experience.
In Beijing, I stayed for 2 nights with an old co-worker from Canada, Sheldon, and visited some old co-workers from Xing Xing Animation where I worked before (see photo of Sheldon, Cindear, and me from 1 year ago company party).
We visited some bars we used to go to but they were all pretty much dead. My God, what happened to Beijing? It's so boring now. Well, it could have been dead because a lot of the foreigners who make Beijing a fun place go home for Christmas and New Year. I did bump into a couple of western friends at Rickshaw, a place I used to go fairly frequently.
On Saturday, I caught the early morning train from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar (UB) the capital of Outer Mongolia. It's supposed to take 30 hours but there was some drama when the trains engine caught fire. I was in car 3, near the front, and we were asked to evacuate to the back of the train until the crew got the fire under control. It was a Mongolian train and it was a bit scary to see all the cabin crews from all the cars running down the aisle with fire extinguishers. I wish I'd taken some photos. At any rate, the train was stuck for 6 hours in Northern China, without power or heat. However, it was only 4 hours late in UB because they got us a new train at the China/Mongolian border. Normally, they change the wheels at the border because the Chinese and Mongolian tracks are different widths, but they skipped this to try to save time.
It was interesting to feel the temperature plummet from Beijing's 0 degrees C to probably -30 degrees C in Mongolia. It's not like flying where you can step from tropical heat to sub-zero in an instant. You really feel the change when you are on the train. The train is mostly warm inside but at the windows and doors between cars you can feel the extreme cold sneaking in. Also, we had to go outside at night a couple of times to change trains and do immigration formalities. I don't know why but the Mongolian Immigration official was a real asshole. He complained about the people who needed visas because he had to get out of bed, I suppose. But we all explained the Mongolian embassy in Beijing was closed for 4 days over the New Year holiday so it was impossible to get a visa in Beijing in a timely manner. Then he overcharged me on my visa because I didn't have US dollars. Visa problems have become a real pain in my life these last few years. I think it's a total racket designed to rip-off as many foreigners as possible.
When we arrived at Ulaanbaatar (UB) around 5:20pm Tuya picked me up at the station. I had to wait outside for about 15 minutes before she arrived. The -25 degree C cold was a bit frightening at first but I got used to it pretty quickly. As long as you have appropriate clothing, especially a hat, glove and scarf for extremities and several layers for your body then it seems like you are good for an hour or two outside. (see photo of me in city centre) If you just go outside, jump in a taxi within a few minutes, then dash inside at your destination, then you can wear just about anything. I walked around at night in -30 degree C temperatures for up to an hour with no problems. The biggest danger seemed to be slipping on ice which accumulates and gets super hard. Fortunately, the air is dry and there was almost no wind while I was there, so that made it pretty comfortable. I imagine if the winds gets strong then you could be in serious trouble.
We stayed in Tuya's aunt's hotel. We had a deluxe room for the very reasonable price of US$30 per night. We had a lot of visitors because many of Tuya's extended family works in the hotel and a lot of her friends were home for the holidays. I really wanted to go out more and explore but there's not much to do in UB. The pubs were nice but close too early for my liking (11pm last call, 12am closed) and then there are the nightclubs which stay open until about 3am to 4am. My favourite nightclub was "Strings" because they had an awesome Phillipine house band and a great DJ too. Also, it was quite busy almost every night I went and had a good mixed crowd of locals and foreigners.
We visited a Chinggis Khan memorial while we were there (see photo). It's about 50km outside the city and I took some photos. It's pretty amazing to see it rising out of the grasslands. I really wanted to climb a small mountain outside the city or play in the snow but nobody else wanted to and I'd probably need to go on my own another time.
After 2 weeks I'd gotten my new Chinese visa and a cheap flight back to Beijing -- not much more expensive then the train (score!!!!). Again, I got a crappy overpriced visa from the Chinese immigration this time. Only 30 days and 1 entry and a ridiculous rush fee. God, it makes me angry. Such a rip-off. So I have to try to arrange another visa when I get back to Shanghai or I will need to get a 30-day extension in Shanghai. Which can be done twice but it's a pain and thoroughly inconvenient.
So, I said good-bye to Tuya and promised to meet again in Shanghai in about 2 weeks and flew back to Beijing on MIAT (Mongolian airline). I repeated my previous 2 night style stay in Beijing and got the night train back to Shanghai. This time for only 370rmb in hard sleeper class on the slow train.
Now, back in my freezing cold apartment -- because it doesn't have central heating -- I'm contemplating my work future. I have applied to a couple of CG companies but if nothing comes of that I'll try to get a better teaching job in Shanghai. Hopefully, I will know something in the next 2 or 3 weeks.
