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Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

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By zacandsof
October 18th 2008

...and breathe.

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

8 hours, 8 mins and 8 secs to go

Well, it's been months. We're still here. Most of our friends aren't. The pollution went. And kinda came back. X-ray machines at the subways came, and are still here. Bugger. Wheelchair access kinda came, and is kinda still here by a thread. Don't visit BJ in a wheelchair. The DVD shops went, and mostly came back. The cranes left, but are definitely back. Tainted milk came, and supposedly left, but we don't believe them. And the bullshit rose to whole new levels. And never went away. *** So, the big question - what did we think? Well, they pulled it off. [View Full Entry]

By Hannah and Ben
October 7th 2008

Moscow to Beijing... A tale of trains.

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

Fisherman at Lake Baikal

Right, firtly apologies for the extreme lack of posts since Moscow but we've had a little trouble finding internet...! So I guess I'll take off where we left in Moscow. Well, we made it to the Red Square on my birthday and saw St Basil's cathedral which was everything to be expected... except a little small... Still pretty big in terms of ordinary sized houses, but not cathedrals. Glad we saw it because now we feel no need to ever travel to Moscow again! Not that we didn't like the place you understand - it was no Minsk - but as [View Full Entry]

By zacandsof
July 7th 2008

Bye bye 五, Bye bye 胡胡, Hello 鼓, Hello 舒服（Bye bye Wu, bye bye Huhu, Hello Gu, Hello shufu!)

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

Moving House
Well, before we hired a van, we did a little moving ourselves!

Well, shall we get the rest of the Beaurocratic Inertia out of the way first? Sof’s company went bankrupt. Well, as bankrupt as a company can get in China. They told us this the day we arrived back from Australia (our last short stint - see the last blog if you haven’t already). The last 2 months have involved many a fight to try and get paid, arguing with stupid middle management and going on strike! The long and short of it; Sof quit. And just in time. 4 days after she quit they closed her school down because they hadn’t [View Full Entry]

By Zs fi s Zoli
June 28th 2008

Bucsu es az oroszlanok

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

a ZAK oroszlanjai

Az utolso het a bucsu jegyeben telt - telik: minden nap ebedekre es vacsorakra kapunk meghivast, ajandekokat osztogatunk es kapunk, es persze bucsuzunk lelekben Pekingtol, ahol 4 honapig eltunk... Nagyon megszerettuk az ittenieket, a kinai eletstilust. Remeljuk, meg lesz lehetosegunk visszajonni ebbe a kulonleges varosba. Hetfon otthon leszunk, mar alig varjuk! :-) Bucsuzoul bemutatjuk a Pekingben es Kina mas reszein "gyujtott" kapuorzo oroszlanokat! Mint mar az utunk legelejen beszamoltunk rola, a kapuorzo oroszlanpar (egy him, mancsa a labdan, es egy nosteny, mancsa egy oroszlanko [View Full Entry]

By jon and laura
June 22nd 2008

Beijing

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

Not our photo
This photo was accidentally uploaded to our page, but it offers a view of life at our hostel in Beijing.

Jon's turn Hey y'all greetings from Beijing This place is amazing. Real culture shock. As soon as we got off the train it hit us. At the customs station I needed extra I.D. and with that four people to make sure I was me. A little nerve racking, not to mention the heat. Once through we tried to get a little help with transportation to our hostel. No one spoke English. We found a Texan who had been teaching in Hong Kong and he seemed just as lost as we were. As a group we decided to try and maybe figure [View Full Entry]

By Nacho Libre
June 8th 2008

Day 365 - Happy Endings

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

A Terracotta Warrior of Shi Huang Di (the First Emperor of China)
These terracotta figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by several local farmers near Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

Well thankfully I’m pleased to report that a jaded traveller I’m definitely not - after the flat experience that turned out to be my time in Vietnam I have absolutely loved being in China - even if I have been travelling alone again. It’s a vast and varied country with stunning scenery, sprawling cities, friendly locals and such a different culture to my own that, though I was left bewildered and amazed on many occasions at both what the country once was and how it is today, I couldn’t get enough of it. I decided when leaving Vietnam to head straight [View Full Entry]

Beijing acrobatics and opera performed at the Summer Palace, Beijing.

By Steve and Jenny
May 25th 2008

Beijing

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

Forbidden city

Hi everyone!! We are in Beijing at the mo and finally its really hot!!! It's very different to Japan and nowhere near as safe, but we love it! We are staying in a converted house in a Houtong which is really nice. We have visited Tian An Men Square, Forbidden City, Bei Hai Park, Temple of Heaven, and 2 temples, 1 buddhist and one confuscian (really weird!) We loved all the sites desite the touts who arent as bad as they could be!! We also learnt to line dance with some lovely folk in the park aka Paul Merton on his [View Full Entry]

By Zs fi s Zoli
May 9th 2008

Akupunktúra a gyakorlatban

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

tűpárna-stílus

Az egy hónapos "alapozás" után (amikor a kínai orvoslás + akupunktúra elméleti alapjait tanítgatták nekem) ezen a héten végre beengedtek az oroszlán barlangjába, azaz a kórház Akupunktúra Osztályára. Kb. 10 rendelőben dolgoznak az orvosok, a folyosó tömve van betegekkel, akik csak a szólításra várnak... Mikor beszólítják őket a megfelelő szobába, először leülnek, elmondják panaszaikat, az orvos kérdéseket tesz fel, pulzust tapint, nyelvet néz, stb, azaz felállítja a diagnózist. Majd lefekszenek az ágyra és pár percen belül úgy néznek ki, mint egy sün, vagy mint egy tűp [View Full Entry]

By Zs fi s Zoli
May 2nd 2008

Hosszú hétvége

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

Sanya - ide nem jutottunk el

A "Hogyan töltsük a hosszú hétvégét?" kérdést már három hete feltettük magunknak, amikoris a meglepi Nanjing és Yangzhou (ld. 1 hónapja) előtt szervezkedni kezdtünk. Ezúttal konkrétabb lépéseket is tettünk, ugyanis hirtelen elhatározásból egy délelőtt alatt kitaláltuk, hogy merre induljunk. Menjünk Kína legdélebbi csücskébe! - gondoltuk. Sanya egy csodálatos város, Hainan, egy trópusi sziget tengerpartján. Kék víz, homokos tengerpart, valamint a sziget belseje felől őserdő határolják - kókuszpálmák és a hatalmas lemenő nap tartoznak még a képhez. Megvettük a [View Full Entry]

...ellenben Zsófinak dél-kínai stílusú rizsarató kalapja van! :)

Zoli épp a füstölők alkímiáját fejti meg

By Zs fi s Zoli
April 1st 2008

Hagyományos kínai orvoslás

Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District

Guang An Men kívülről, bal oldalon a főbejárat.

Pekingi utunk egyik nem titkolt célja az volt, hogy mialatt Zoli a fiatalságot okítja, én kicsit elmélyedhessek a hagyományos kínai orvoslás (röviden: TCM) tudományában (ami nagyon jól passzol választott szakterületemhez, a reumatológiához!). 3-4 hét keresgélés után végre találtunk egy kórházat, ahol angol nyelven tanulhatnak a külföldi orvosok, elsősorban gyakorlati képzőhely, de a speciális eseteknek (mint én), elméleti oktatást is szerveznek. A kórház neve Guang An Men, azaz a "fényes béke kapuja", elég szép név! :) Kb 50 éve alapították, állami tulajdonban van (itt nagyon kevé [View Full Entry]