For the last 4 hours of our journey from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing, the air conditioning in our carriage was broken. This wouldn’t usually be a big problem, but northern China in August is insanely hot and humid, so that we were practically melting by the time the train pulled into the station. Were it not for the great company of our cabin mates, Renaud and Nathalie, we would not have arrived in such good cheer.

In the ‘Chinese sauna’ of a train compartment with Renaud and Nathalie

We started our visit in style with a visit to a local restaurant hosted by our Chinese friends from the Gobi tour in Mongolia, Isaac and Rebecca. Khun, another friend from the group, was also in Beijing and joined us too. So what did we eat for our first meal in Beijing? Peking duck of course! And very good it was too.

Peking duck carved at the table

Getting ready to tuck in (left to right): Khun, Andrew, Julie, Isaac, Rebecca

We’ve had a fantastic day of exploring today and we’re really excited about all the sights, culture and food that are lined up for the coming weeks.