Desert adventure around Beijing

Bargaining with a local fisherman, Balazovic and company hired a fishing  boat to cross the Guanting Reservoir just in time to catch the last train  home to Beijing.

A short getaway lead four friends on an unexpected journey to Heibei

I awoke from a light sleep sprawled across five seats in the Shacheng railway station, unwashed, still tired, and slightly grumpy.

We arrived in Shacheng late the previous evening and after several hours of unsuccessfully locating a hotel we could afford or accepted foreigners without the need for a passport (I had forgotten mine) we were forced to sleep in the railway station.

In an effort to escape the concrete confines of Beijing and desperate for a change of scenery, a group of colleagues and I decided last minute to make a run for the Tianmo Desert, located roughly 90 km north of Beijing in Hebei province.

After unsuccessfully finding a place to stay, the group spent the night in  Shacheng railway station.