A lot of events happened during past months, but I'll write about Park World Tour in China.
So, I have been first time in Asia and China this year.
Plane ticket costed 400 euro + 100 euro for visa. At PWT I won 350 euro, so the trip was quite cheap.
19.10 Friday
Departure from Stockholm, change in Copenhagen and straight to Beijing. Flight was 9:30, so quite long.
20.10 Saturday
Arrive to Beijing. Accommodation at hotel.
I did arrive to airport early, at 04:10. It took approximately 1:30 to get from plane to take bag. Then I took airport express train and metro to hotel.
Those, who arrived later, were picked up by organizers.
One of the problems in China is that almost none speaks english. It was even difficult to communicate with staff at reception in hotel.
21.10 Sunday, PWT stage 1. E-town culture park (place).
You can read a report from this stage here.
I took 2 place, 2 second behind Yannick Michiels and got 350 euro as prize money.
22.10 Monday. Activities.
In the morning we all have been on some activities. First we ran some easy course, then took part in hand made producing activities.
23.10 Tuesday, PWT stage 2. Forest park of Green Dragon lake (place).
Middle distance in some type of park forest.
The forest type is similar to Spain or Portugal. Quite open itself, mostly not high pine or something other. More or less all is planted.
Also the map is more scheme. You have to take in mind that it's not always really accurate and be flexible in orienteering.
PWT article.
I injured my calf muscle, so had to quit the race. The PWT was over for me.
Also this evening part of the group went for a light party in karaoke bar.
24.10 Wednesday, Great Wall (place).
Another free day. All went to Great Wall.
25.10 Thursday, PWT stage 3. Beijing garden expo park (place).
PWT article.
26.10 Friday, PWT stage 4. Olympic forest park (place).
PWT article.
This stage was close to Olympic park (summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing in 2008 and winter will be hold 2022).
After this event we change accommodation for 2 night to some other place, south from Beijing and last stage of PWT was held around our cottages.
27.10 Saturday, PWT stage 5. Somewhere (place).
Runners got 2 maps at start. At 1 control they flip map and run "labyrint" map 2. At 11 control they flip again and continue the course on map 1.
We lived in cottages on map 2.
Overall victories went to Yannick Michiels and Karolin Ohlsson. They won free flight ticket for next years edition of PWT in China.
In the evening it was party with beer and dancing. The organizers shut down it quite early, I think around 21 o'clock, so we continued by our own.
28.10 Sunday.
We moved back in Beijing in another hotel. Before this trip the plan of events was a bit different, but it was changed later on. First it was expected to run last stage on Sunday, but they moved it to Saturday. So, most of the runners had their flights on Monday.
29.10 Monday. Departure home.
Summary:
Good to know.
Almost no one speaks english. One local guy was with group all the time when the group is all together, bur if you go somewhere by own ─ no english.
Metro (subway) works good in Beijing. Most of sightseeing place possible to reach by it. And it's quite cheap.
At market you have to bargain a lot, really a lot. I bought fake new balance shoes for 100 yuan with start price 300. The price on something can start with 2000 and you buy it later for 500. But you have to go hard in bargaining.
Cash is a king. It's possible to find ATM in many places, but almost all-over you pay with cash only.
Almost no coffee. At our first accommodation it was more or less ok with coffee on breakfast, but at second and third accommodation it was just some waste water. Tea is more popular.
Places to visit:
Summer palace (wiki, location, metro lane 1, stop Beigongmen), Yonghegong Lama temple (wiki, location, same metro stop name on lanes 2 or 5), forbidden city (wiki, location, lane 1 stop Tiananmen west), one of the street food places (lane 1, stop Wangfujing). Shopping: Silk market (lane 1, stop Yonganli ) or another shop was close to our first accommodation place (metro lane 5, stop Tiantan Dongmen for both places). There is somewhere skyscrapers which is possible to visit so see nice views, but we didn't manage.
Internet.
Google doesn't works there at this moment. So, no google maps or gmail. On computer I did use bing for search.
No facebook.
You better to have VPN on your smartphone before the trip, so you can access google and facebook. I did use SuperVPN.
Food was ok. Sometimes you might not find proper food before the race, as porridge or muesli. So, maybe it's better to take with your from home or maybe buy at place, but I didn't try.
It's better to be ready to run on hard surface. You don't need any metal spikes on shoes. Normal running shoes and some other o-shoes with just a rubber, as inov-8 X-talon or similar.
Your body also should be ready to run on hard surface, so you don't get injured.
The tour is well organized. Main person behind all is Jaroslav Kacmarcik. There is a group of local organizers as well, with head of Learnjoy company (we used their punching system) Tan Xiaoping (we called him Thomas, don't know why) and another guy Tom, who was with group more or less always.
All detailed information about races we got on meetings in evening before the race, as well as schedule for all what happens. Some sightseeing activities, as trip to Great Wall, was also organized.
Total results of the event are calculated based on score which runners earn for places. 1st place ─ 25 score, 2 ─ 20, 3 ─ ...
So, if you are good enough, it's possible to get good total position even if you skip some races.
The breakfast was at accommodation place.
Lunch we normally got in boxes.
Dinner usually was at some restaurant.
All costs at place were covered by organizers. All was for free: accommodation in hotel, food, entry fees, even some sightseeing.
A big thank you to Jaroslav and all PWT team!
So, I have been first time in Asia and China this year.
Plane ticket costed 400 euro + 100 euro for visa. At PWT I won 350 euro, so the trip was quite cheap.
19.10 Friday
Departure from Stockholm, change in Copenhagen and straight to Beijing. Flight was 9:30, so quite long.
20.10 Saturday
Arrive to Beijing. Accommodation at hotel.
I did arrive to airport early, at 04:10. It took approximately 1:30 to get from plane to take bag. Then I took airport express train and metro to hotel.
Those, who arrived later, were picked up by organizers.
One of the problems in China is that almost none speaks english. It was even difficult to communicate with staff at reception in hotel.
21.10 Sunday, PWT stage 1. E-town culture park (place).
You can read a report from this stage here.
I took 2 place, 2 second behind Yannick Michiels and got 350 euro as prize money.
22.10 Monday. Activities.
In the morning we all have been on some activities. First we ran some easy course, then took part in hand made producing activities.
23.10 Tuesday, PWT stage 2. Forest park of Green Dragon lake (place).
Middle distance in some type of park forest.
The forest type is similar to Spain or Portugal. Quite open itself, mostly not high pine or something other. More or less all is planted.
Also the map is more scheme. You have to take in mind that it's not always really accurate and be flexible in orienteering.
PWT article.
I injured my calf muscle, so had to quit the race. The PWT was over for me.
Also this evening part of the group went for a light party in karaoke bar.
24.10 Wednesday, Great Wall (place).
Another free day. All went to Great Wall.
25.10 Thursday, PWT stage 3. Beijing garden expo park (place).
PWT article.
26.10 Friday, PWT stage 4. Olympic forest park (place).
This stage was close to Olympic park (summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing in 2008 and winter will be hold 2022).
27.10 Saturday, PWT stage 5. Somewhere (place).
Runners got 2 maps at start. At 1 control they flip map and run "labyrint" map 2. At 11 control they flip again and continue the course on map 1.
We lived in cottages on map 2.
Overall victories went to Yannick Michiels and Karolin Ohlsson. They won free flight ticket for next years edition of PWT in China.
In the evening it was party with beer and dancing. The organizers shut down it quite early, I think around 21 o'clock, so we continued by our own.
28.10 Sunday.
We moved back in Beijing in another hotel. Before this trip the plan of events was a bit different, but it was changed later on. First it was expected to run last stage on Sunday, but they moved it to Saturday. So, most of the runners had their flights on Monday.
29.10 Monday. Departure home.
Summary:
Good to know.
Almost no one speaks english. One local guy was with group all the time when the group is all together, bur if you go somewhere by own ─ no english.
Metro (subway) works good in Beijing. Most of sightseeing place possible to reach by it. And it's quite cheap.
At market you have to bargain a lot, really a lot. I bought fake new balance shoes for 100 yuan with start price 300. The price on something can start with 2000 and you buy it later for 500. But you have to go hard in bargaining.
Cash is a king. It's possible to find ATM in many places, but almost all-over you pay with cash only.
Almost no coffee. At our first accommodation it was more or less ok with coffee on breakfast, but at second and third accommodation it was just some waste water. Tea is more popular.
Places to visit:
Summer palace (wiki, location, metro lane 1, stop Beigongmen), Yonghegong Lama temple (wiki, location, same metro stop name on lanes 2 or 5), forbidden city (wiki, location, lane 1 stop Tiananmen west), one of the street food places (lane 1, stop Wangfujing). Shopping: Silk market (lane 1, stop Yonganli ) or another shop was close to our first accommodation place (metro lane 5, stop Tiantan Dongmen for both places). There is somewhere skyscrapers which is possible to visit so see nice views, but we didn't manage.
Internet.
Google doesn't works there at this moment. So, no google maps or gmail. On computer I did use bing for search.
No facebook.
You better to have VPN on your smartphone before the trip, so you can access google and facebook. I did use SuperVPN.
Food was ok. Sometimes you might not find proper food before the race, as porridge or muesli. So, maybe it's better to take with your from home or maybe buy at place, but I didn't try.
It's better to be ready to run on hard surface. You don't need any metal spikes on shoes. Normal running shoes and some other o-shoes with just a rubber, as inov-8 X-talon or similar.
Your body also should be ready to run on hard surface, so you don't get injured.
The tour is well organized. Main person behind all is Jaroslav Kacmarcik. There is a group of local organizers as well, with head of Learnjoy company (we used their punching system) Tan Xiaoping (we called him Thomas, don't know why) and another guy Tom, who was with group more or less always.
All detailed information about races we got on meetings in evening before the race, as well as schedule for all what happens. Some sightseeing activities, as trip to Great Wall, was also organized.
Total results of the event are calculated based on score which runners earn for places. 1st place ─ 25 score, 2 ─ 20, 3 ─ ...
So, if you are good enough, it's possible to get good total position even if you skip some races.
The breakfast was at accommodation place.
Lunch we normally got in boxes.
Dinner usually was at some restaurant.
All costs at place were covered by organizers. All was for free: accommodation in hotel, food, entry fees, even some sightseeing.
A big thank you to Jaroslav and all PWT team!
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