Beijing

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I've just had my last night in Beijing, with my train buddies Sue, Roddie, Disa, Nami and Travis. We all got on and off at different times from Moscow but some of us ended up in Mongolia at the same time and everyone met up at the end of the line in Beijing. We have become a four headed monster, doing everything together and becoming like a strange family here in Beijing, with family outings, dysfunctionality and a hierarchy of parental roleplay (Sue = toilet paper provider, Roddie = protector of women and polygamist when we had unwanted male attention at all) and so on.

We have turned into Japanese tourists: at first for a laugh, but now we are all slipping into cheesy poses and making V signs every time a camera is pointed at us, without even thinking. The chinese people seem to be gobsmacked at any one of us and keep taking photos. I feel like a prize exhibit. I still haven't worked out whether that is a good or bad thing.

I feel totally at ease in Beijing which I really didn't expect. Just zipping about on the metro or buses is great and so cheap (1-2 yuan!). I have developed an unhealthy obsession with the Silk Market, and went back today to buy 2 more watches, and pairs of Diesel and Miss Sixty jeans for 200 yuan, plus some bootleg raybans. Thank god I am leaving tomorrow...

Due to the public holiday here all hell has broken loose and suddenly where there were 2 people per square foot in Beijing there are now at least nine, plus several food stalls. Because the entire country moves around during this week, public transport is severely booked up. My original plan has been scuppered and I was told that the first train I could get get out of Beijing was on 4 October. Way too late as I wanted to leave by tomorrow at latest. So I have booked a flight to Chengdu in western China leaving tomorrow, and will loiter there for a few days whilst deciding on my plan to crack Tibet.

At the moment it is looking very difficult because it takes 7-10 days to get the Tibet travel permit, and they won't start processing it until after the holiday is over, and I need to find other people wanting to do the exact route I want at the same time, and I think they need to be fellow national passport holders. All this means just about everything is against me but I just need to get to Chengdu, see what the gossip is there about entering Tibet and see if I can find any groups to attach myself to.