The Chinese competition winer Chung Chun and Scarlet (left) pose with Tony
on their arrival in Irkustuk, Siberia
The Chinese media say goodbye as Tony leaves Beijing
Tony in the Mongolian village of Hailar with 3 of the
local ladies
Last month's Call Sign told how Tony Arnold (F03) had flown to China
along with LTI's TXII to take part in a momentous taxi drive from Beijing to
London. The trip is being filmed by Pearson Broadband for a TV series to be
shown on Chinese television during the lead-up to the Beijing Olympic Games
in 2008. During his time in the Chinese capital, Tony has made many public
appearances, including one amazing speech that he made in Chinese - written
in a phonetic form but read brilliantly! He also told us about the cost of
diesel at a mouth-watering 7p per litre...!
(Continued from October's Call Sign...)
It was now almost time to leave Beijing. Last minute arrangements for a trip
of this magnitude almost inevitably meant that they would leave late. In
addition to all his official engagements, Tony also visited the two walled
cities that make up the capital of the People's Republic of China. They are
the Outer City, consisting mainly of the now very westernised commercial
quarter, and the Inner City - known better as the Forbidden City - once
forbidden to outsiders and also home to the Imperial Palace of the Emperor
of China.
"Absolutely magnificent," Tony told Call Sign,
"you just have to see it to believe it. It's so hard to actually
take it all in."
Describing his time in Beijing as just "stunningly
mind-blowing with the most amazingly friendly people," it was now
time for Tony to leave Beijing (Peking), the 5 star luxury of the SwissOtel
and finally hit the road...
"It's rather a different road from any that the
Knowledge of London could throw up, neither would I expect to see its like
appear on our data terminal!" said Tony as he led the convoy out of
the city with two surprise guests, while waving to the crowds staring at
this "strange" taxi.
Soon they were viewing some of the most amazing scenery that he
and his "sidekick / technical expert" John Rula had ever seen as
they headed north towards the Russian border crossing of Manzhouli, around
1600 miles in front of them and their scheduled crossing into the former
USSR - the beginning of phase 2 of this huge, momentous journey...
The Great Wall of China
The TXII's first stop after leaving the hubbub of Beijing and as they headed
into north eastern China was to the 7500 year old City of Shenyang, which
has been inhabited since the Neolithic age. They went via the fort at
Jinzhou to look at the amazing Great Wall of China. The wall, built from the
3rd century BC as a protection against the warmongering Mongols, stretches
some 1500 miles from Gansu to the Gulf of Liaodong. Much of the wall is 20
feet high and the same again across, with a route that even crosses
mountains! Returning to his hotel in Shenyang, Tony visited the parents of a
friend who is in University in the UK!
"They were a bit taken aback," said Tony in
another Call Sign phone call, "but they made us very welcome. We found
the Chinese people to be like that virtually everywhere..."
But now it was time to leave Beijing. First though, there
were two important guests to be picked up - Tony's first Chinese fares!
Chung Chun and Scarlet were the two winners of a competition on the Internet
of which the prize was to be the passengers in Tony's
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TX1 all the way back to Trafalgar Square in London! Chung Chun and
Scarlet were the winners from 4000 entries and they made themselves comfy in
the passenger compartment as the convoy hit the road again.
The LTI TXII was now making its way towards Inner Mongolia,
taking a brief stop at the Mongolian village of Hailar. "Not quite
the leafy lane image we get at home," said Tony, "but none
the less fascinating." Then on to Changchun, the capital of the
Jilin Province with its tiny population of 23 million - and that was taken
from 1982 statistics!
"The roads are bumpy in places with lots of toll
crossings (charging an average of 75p), but they are of a reasonable quality
and especially so as not too many years ago, they
were just dirt tracks," Tony told us via the amazingly clear phone
link.
An early morning start saw their route took them through the
famous "Ice City" of Harbin. Capital of the Heilongjiang Province,
this was actually a Russian stronghold during the October Revolution of 1917
and a centre for Tsarist activities. Call Sign wondered what the hotel
accommodation was like compared to the SwissOtel in Beijing?
"Well, they are officially around the 4-star
mark," said Tony, "but I think that 4-star in the UK is a much
higher standard. But they were reasonably comfortable and we managed to get
some sleep, which after all is the whole idea!"
Next morning, another early start took the group through Inner
Mongolia to the City of Qiqihar, where Tony spent much of the day chatting
to the locals who were fascinated by the TXII - especially the illuminated
TAXI sign. Taxi is a universal word, but they hadn't seen it on such a
strange looking vehicle before! While in Qiqihar, Tony also went to a
wedding where he offered his services to the bride and groom as a chauffeur.
"They looked rather unsure," said Tony, "and
I didn't want to interfere with their big day. They were delighted to let us
watch the proceedings though."
The next day saw Tony and co heading to the China-Russian
border crossing at Manzhouli where they had their first sighting of snow
while London bathed in 70 degrees of sunshine. The Chinese side of the
border still looked very bright and friendly, but the Russian side looked
rather drab...
"But in all fairness," said John Rula, "we're
told that the nearest real town on the Russian side is an 8-hour drive
away!"
The following morning would see Tony's first drive into Russian
territory, so a last Chinese meal in a restaurant with John and some of the
film crew was called for.
"Tony isn't too enamoured with Chinese food,"
John told us, "but as he doesn't have a huge appetite, he seems to
manage. I quite enjoyed my heart of cow!" Tony, apparently, refused
the restaurant's kind offer to grill him a dog!
Then the trips first worry. Once over the border, Call Sign
lost contact with Tony. Then his brother Max (D66) told us outside DaC's
Brunswick House that Tony had phoned his mother in London telling her that
he and his TXII were in Irkutsk, Siberia where there was no mobile phone
agreement in operation. The only usable phone was an old one in the hotel
reception! But he and his young guests were safe and finally managed to send
the photo accompanying this article to Call Sign...
More on Tony Arnold's amazing journey next month...
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