We survived
Sleep on the sleeper train to Taiyuan came and went sporadically. There was no chance of an 8-hour sleep. I thought I had it bad because I was squashed into this tiny space, for me. Apparently my neighbours weren’t as bad as Mat’s were. When we woke up, he told me how the guy opposite had been breathing very heavily straight into Mat’s face. He also said that a couple had been farting pretty horrifically, so I count myself lucky.
There were quite a few flies knocking about our sections, not surprising really. As it was morning, there were fewer people than there were at night, so the smell had eased slightly. When we arrived in Taiyuan, we gladly hopped off into the fresher air. We then navigated to the bus stop we needed which was simple enough. I still love how the buses only cost ¥1. Back home, to get from my house to the city centre would cost the equivalent of ¥30. You can see why I’m pleased! To see the build up to the sleeper train and photos, check out the Train to Taiyuan post.
Paradise
Our next accommodation was to be a hotel belonging to the Jinjiang Inn franchise (similar to Premier Inn or Travel Lodge in the UK). To check the Taiyuan branch out, click here. We weren’t expecting much from a franchise hotel. I don’t know if it was really good, or just because we’d had a night on a dump of a sleeper train, but to me it looked like a 5-star hotel. The room was spacious, good commodities, and the beds were to die for. We’d struck gold here.
Once we’d dumped our stuff, we headed out to do laundry. We talked to the woman at reception, via a translation app, about a laundrette. She gave us directions, as well as pointing it out on a map. So we headed around the corner to the laundrette. We propped our bags of washing on the shop desktop and then she opened them up. Our clothes, underwear and all, sprawled over the counter. She totted up the bill and handed us one each. Our eyes nearly popped out of our heads. My bill came to ¥150! We left the shop a bit puzzled. We went back to reception to see if we’d been ripped off. Turns out it was a dry cleaner’s. We were slightly gutted, but it was done now, so had to carry on.
Tip!
Whenever you go into a shop, make sure you’re clear of what you’re buying/services you’re receiving. It happened easily enough to us. If you’re confused about price or something else, just ask questions as to why. Of course, sometimes you might feel embarrassed and think nothing of it. But other times, your gut might tell you somethings ‘off’, so it’s right to speak up.
Green bubble
After the sting of the dry cleaner, we decided to head to a nearby park. It’s always nice to get lost in the peace and quiet of these ‘green bubbles’. These parks in the middle of cities where you can forget you’re in a city. We sat down near a lake. There was a good amount of open space. As I’ve said before, where there’s open space, there are old folks dancing. This place was no different. In fact, there were about 3 or 4 groups. One group waved us over but we just shook our heads whilst laughing, trying to keep our heads down. Could have been fun to be fair.
We carried on walking around the Taiyuan park and the lake. Eventually we got to a fountain where there were a lot of activities going on. These must be some remnants from the patriotic golden week celebrations or the 70th anniversary. Everywhere was pretty hyped up to be honest. We stood around for a bit observing the uniform chaos unfolding around us. After a short while, we decided to carry on for some food.
A new hobby
We headed towards a shopping mall in the other direction we’d been walking. When we arrived, I was surprised by the size of it, it was huge! As I’d never heard of Taiyuan before, I didn’t think it’d have a shopping centre as big as this. We had a stroll around every floor, just to see what was about. Neither of us wanted to buy anything from the shops, but we did want some food!
We entered a random restaurant whose food wasn’t too pricey. The both of us went for a type of kebab but instead of naan/pita bread, it was pastry. This thing was absolutely gorgeous. Greasy and hot, but beautiful. It really filled the pair of us up. We also went for a side of lamb satay skewers which were also very nice.
It seems that if we’re ever in a place and have nothing to do, that having a browse around a shopping centre is a good way to kill time. You may also end up seeing something that takes your fancy.
Returning to paradise
After eating our feel, we exited the shopping centre and soaked up Taiyuan once more, in a slightly darker light as time was getting on. We both shuffled back to the hotel with food babies. Walking around places for hours takes it out of you more than you think. Once we were back at the hotel, I got showered, then we played cards and listened to some Beatles! It was gonna be a great sleep tonight in this lush bed as opposed to the sleeper train bed!
Tip!
If you want to save on costs as much as we did, then it’s a crafty idea to use rooms with kettles to your advantage. Usually you’d have to fill up at water coolers when you have the chance, or buy bottled water. However, if you use your time wisely, you can boil the kettle and then later on when it’s cooled down, refill your own bottle. We did this every time we could, and it worked like a charm!
