Recently, I accompanied two Brazilians on a winter special forces-style trip to Beijing. We almost froze to death in Beijing!
Our guests this time are two Brazilians living in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil. Manaus is close to the equator and very hot. The temperature is also very high in winter. According to them, as soon as they get up in the morning, it’s around 28 or 29 degrees. The other person is me, a Cantonese!
The main reason may still be insufficient cold-proof equipment. When we went to play in Hong Kong, we bought clothes for the Brazilians in Hong Kong. I advised him to buy thicker ones, but he didn’t listen. I told him to buy gloves and a hat, but he didn’t buy them either. He said he had thick fat and was resistant to the cold. Just like this, this extremely confident Brazilian, wearing a pair of Crocs, a short-sleeved shirt and a thin coat, and a pair of thin pants, set off with us.
This time we only had two days to play due to limited time.
On the first day, we arrived in Beijing in the afternoon.
We first went to the Old Summer Palace. Because the Old Summer Palace has long opening hours and is also very rich in historical and cultural heritage, representing a special period of Chinese history. It is very suitable for taking foreigners to visit. The Old Summer Palace is really beautiful! Indescribable! We mainly went to see the Western-style buildings area. I introduced the history of the Old Summer Palace to them. Since it is an imperial garden, I also introduced Chinese ancient “eunuchs” to them. They asked me why castration was done. I said that because the emperor had three thousand beauties in his harem, it was to ensure the purity of the royal bloodline. They were very shocked. However, after only walking around for thirty or forty minutes, they clamored to go back to the hotel, saying it was too cold to continue walking. In the evening, I took them to the mall and bought a lot of thick clothes.
On the second day, we went to the Great Wall, Drum Tower and Nanluo and Beixiang. It was so cold at the Great Wall. I was wearing gloves. As long as I didn’t put my hands in my pockets, my hands would be so cold that they hurt. We took the cable car up and the slide down. We may have only climbed for about an hour. In fact, after only climbing for thirty or forty minutes, they wanted to go back. It was not enjoyable at all. After strolling in the afternoon, we sat in a coffee shop for a long time and were unwilling to go out.
Yes, the three of us were all frozen. By the way, there is something a bit funny. When having breakfast on the second day, I took a closer look. It seemed that the chubby Brazilian…was wearing several short-sleeved shirts layered on top of each other. Later he told me that he was wearing five short-sleeved shirts layered inside. My friend’s comment: This outfit is really extremely shocking even on a global scale!
Touring Beijing in winter as a southerner is really torture. Those two Brazilians are even more exaggerated. Especially that a bit chubby one. When he stubbornly refused to buy thick clothes in Hong Kong and considering his body weighing more than two hundred catties, I thought he was so not afraid of the cold!
Before leaving, the Brazilian joked with me that next time a friend wants to travel to China, be sure to tell him to come in December or January. It’s best to tell him to spend Christmas in Beijing!