{"id":484,"date":"2022-09-06T16:54:06","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T16:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/?p=484"},"modified":"2022-09-06T16:54:07","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T16:54:07","slug":"beijing-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/travel\/beijing-china\/","title":{"rendered":"China - Extorted in Beijing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When my daughter Martha was studying in Dalian, in the far northeast corner of China, she invited me to meet her in Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stayed in a friendly hostel in the centre of town, ate fabulous food with Martha\u2019s many international friends, walked a section of the Great Wall, visited the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace and strolled through Tiananmen Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a stress-free, enchanting introduction to one of the world\u2019s great cities. Martha spoke excellent Chinese and navigated this giant metropolis with ease and speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, she arranged to see a friend and we agreed to meet a couple of hours later. I felt that, with a few days\u2019 experience of Beijing, I could get around OK by myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big mistake!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within minutes of leaving Martha, I\u2019d agreed to get on the back of a motorised tricycle for a ride to a metro station for $2. Instead, the driver zoomed off in a different direction, going so fast I couldn\u2019t get off. After a few minutes haring through side streets, he turned down a small alley, stopped his trike and demanded $20. I got off, but there was nowhere to run, no-one to help me \u2013 and he was clearly threatening violence unless I paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extorted, left in a strange, isolated alley, I somehow had to find my way back to the safety and security of my daughter. We stuck together after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
With Martha on the Great Wall of China<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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