Blogs from Haidian district, Beijing, China, Asia - page 8

We flew direct from Washington, D.C. to Beijing. Our stewardess was really nice and told me we would fly over the North Pole which was so exciting!!! The North Pole was cloudy, but parts of Siberia weren't. Soooo cool, I want to backpack through Siberia some day!... read more

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to this morning's trip to the Beijing Dragon Seal Wine Museum due to a bit of dehydration and a touch of exhaustion. However, I made sure not to miss out on lunch; the famous Peking Duck. As it turns out, this duck is sliced into ninety pieces as part of the service, and each piece is masterfully cut off the duck in less than 3 minutes by a highly experienced server. The duck was extremely crispy on the outside, cooked to tender perfection on the inside, and served with a rich, delicious sauce among other accompaniments. What I probably liked most about the meal was that the duck was put out with both flour and corn pancakes, a variety of vegetables, thick sauce, and the understanding that you should eat it ... read more

Just so you don’t think it’s all sightseeing and eating perhaps I should tell you what I am actually out here for ……….. My placement employer is the Beijing Volunteer Federation and they are in partnership with United Nations Volunteers on a project called Spring Shoots. This is a response to their success in using volunteers at the Beijing Olympics (400,000 of them! one thing China is not short of is people). The idea being that this volunteer workforce could be mobilised to make a difference through projects which are for public benefit rather than just on high profile sporting events. The official bit - "to develop Volunteerism 4 Development model projects, leaving a legacy of good practice which other projects can follow in future". So I work with grass roots, not-for-profit organisations, building their ... read more

‘May you enjoy good fortune as expansive as the Eastern sky and longevity as long as the Southern mountain’ Well I didn’t think I would come to Beijing and meet an angel but this week I was invited to attend a Chinese wedding and thinking it might be very different I was pleased to go - and there I met an angel, well 2 actually. In the absence of cute and appropriately aged relations these two got hired and paid for their services and with one wedding every half an hour and the next one waiting in the courtyard -they are doing very nicely thank you! Fortunately it was a beautiful sunny morning and there is no tradition of not seeing the bride beforehand, so bride and groom and guests all casually mingled waiting for their ... read more

Well I know some of you can’t wait to see my 5* accommodation, so brace yourself and follow the picture story …………. I haven’t seen any area of Beijing yet that is not built up, the roads are huge and crossing is at your peril. There is a series of 4 ring roads with huge pedestrian crossing bridges - which turn into mini shopping malls as guys set up their wares on a blanket on the floor absolutely anywhere.(why anyone wants to squat on the floor and buy a dodgy MP3 player on an overpass in the biting wind I do not know but they seem to?) My main street has a Macdonalds on one side and KFC on the other (but no chips!) and a very expensive department store with designer labels and cosmetics. But ... read more