I got my bags packed on a roll heading out there and I'm ready to go looking real good

in my passport photo.

Amateur Traveler episode 638. Today the Amateur Traveler

talks about Hutongs, the Pants Tower, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of

China, and lots and lots of history as we go to Beijing, China.

Welcome to the amateur traveler. I'm your host Chris Christensen. We have a lot to cover so let's talk about Beijing. I'd like to welcome to the show Daniel Rickleman who is coming to us from

Beijing and who has come to talk to us about Beijing. Daniel welcome to the show.

Thank you, Chris.

You don't sound like someone who is originally from Beijing.

No, no, I'm from Australia, but after finishing university I did a big round-the-world trip.

Which is nearly mandatory in Australia.

Is that a law or something there?

Exactly.

The first place I arrived was China and I only had two weeks here but the rest of the whole trip was a seven month trip.

I just couldn't stop thinking about my experience in China and I was determined to get back here

after going back to Australia so I worked a little bit in Australia and then found my way back here for work and I've been here a total about seven years with a four year gap in the middle

and the last three of those seven years has been in Beijing.

Excellent.

Now I do have to ask and usually this comes up later on the conversation but with you living there did you speak Chinese at the time you first went there? Mandarin that is?

I had spent time in China prior to Beijing so I did have survival level Chinese and I know that is a big thing with people traveling to China.

The language really is a difficulty. It's not widely spoken,

apart from hotels and say a tool guide, you just won't run into English. But there are ways around that and the translation apps these days are very good.

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