Guessing game

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I have a game:

Anyone who can guess what city I'm going to next will win something awesome. I'm not sure where it will be yet, but I'm deciding today, and it will be somewhere west of Beijing. Best of luck! Oh, and because China is so big you get three guesses.

Yesterday I went and saw Transformers 2 in Chinese . . . with Chinese subtitles. I coulnd't understand much of anything they were saying, but my guess is it didn't really matter anyways cause the visual effects were amazing. The Olympic Forest Park is beautiful, and after walking around for a while and exploring the rest of the olympic grounds it finally started to rain, and rain it did. Hard. I got soaked through but it was great fun and I bought ice cream to celebrate : D

Today was the first day I didn't start sweating as soon as I stepped outside. Yes!

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Comments

[Elsbeth]

my three guesses
1.) Zhangjiakou, China; 2.) Hohhot China; 3.) Taiyuan, China. This is a really fun idea! Happy travels to your next destination. The movie Transformers 2 sounds like it was a blast to see in Chinese. Yeah!, I'm so glad the heat has let up a little for you and that rain shower must have felt so good. Love you, mom oxoxoxoxoxoxox

[Norah Cashin]

Guessing the city
Hey, Harrison, It is so amazingly cool that you are doing this! I don't know if you have left Beijing yet, but several places you might try to see before you leave, or when you come back: Liulichang St (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liulichang) is an old bookselling and arts area that I think you would love to see; the Temple of Heaven; the Ming Tombs; and you have to see at least some section of the Great Wall. Have a chop made for yourself in Liulichang St. - I know it sounds a little touristy, but it is very cool to have when you get back (a chop, as you may know, is a little wooden stamp with your name carved (phonetically) as the design). Are you going to take a train at any time? It may be that the trains have changed (I was there in 1988), but it was a memorable experience. Whole families moving from one city to another with their belongings in cardboard boxes held together with twine and tape, eating chicken feet from brown paper wrappers and playing a game with little sticks, or checkers with battered boards and mismatched pieces. And staring at me. OK, I'll guess Xian (Chang'an). It's far, though. It's the place where the terracotta army is, but it is also one of the oldest cities on the planet, the end of the Silk Road, and in a beautiful place - Shaanxi province is gorgeous. Also, you see some of the ethnic minorities on the streets of Xian; most of the rest of the country is predominantly Han. I really wanted to go to Guilin province in the south. It's what you see on those breathtaking scroll paintings where a few feathered lines suggest a whole landscape - the limestone hills, the trailing vegetation. It's on your way to Thailand... Hey, how are you getting to Thailand from China? Are you going through Laos or Vietnam or are you flying? Any chance you will get to Tibet? I'm looking forward to hearing every section of the journey. Thanks for doing the blog; it's wonderful to read. Norah

[Liz]

guessing game
I hope that you got to see the Forbidden City since it is one of the few authentic historic sites to see. ok - i was also going to guess Xian - well worth the visit, the warriors are definitely something to see especially since they are the world's largest jigsaw puzzle, the street bbq food at night, the walled city where u can rent a bike and ride around the top of the wall, watch out crossing the streets in china - always wait for others, otherwise the cars are less inclined to slow . . . Tsingtao is supposed to be beautiful - plenty of beer too, Lijiang is a UNESCO world heritage site and the old city is really wonderful even if it is a tourist hot spot - u can take a day trip to Tiger Leaping Gorge and/or Jade Snow Mountain, the drive is long, but the countryside is cool. I could agree with the Guilin suggestion - there are places all through China well worth seeing, just take the time to enjoy them. Have a blast!