Chinese Fried Chicken

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Geo: 39.9165, 116.391

Tonight is December 6th to us. I'm not sure what day of the week that is but I do know we are almost a day ahead of you. Anyway, we had a small change in plans today that worked-out quite well. Kamie started getting a sore throat and thinking he was getting sick so we skipped the morning tour to the Summer Palace. So did several others. Our tour guide has continually reminded us not to overdue it in Beijing or we would not enjoy the remainder of our trip. Kamie needed the rest, some cough drops, and he is feeling much better tonight. It worked out well for us because we got to sleep-in, then talk with a few others skipping the morning tour, then took another nap after breakfast. We left again at 1:30pm. I try to focus on the things we did see rather than what we may have missed today.

Today we went to a bigger supermarket. Things are 1/4 the price in the supermarket versus in the tourist areas or compared to what is sold on the streets next to our hotel. We bought a few small items ~ I got a can of Coke for about 40 US cents. It tasted the same as our Coke but no ice is available in China. We miss ice. We saw lots of products that were similiar to ours but not necessarily western-style. They had cucumber flavored Lay's, pepper and chicken flavored Lay's, fermented soy bean prawn flavored Lay's... basically, the chips weren't exactly bbq flavored. They did have "Cheesy Cheese" Pringles so we bought a can - and they have a light dusting of cheese - no cheese according to Kamie. The store also sold lots of frozen fish items - all with the heads on. The deli sold already-made dumplings and, of course, those fresh peanuts. They also had GIANT carrots in the store for about .20 US cents each. It was fun to look around.

We had to eat dinner on our own tonight so we went to a place across from our hotel that had what looked like KFC - but it turned-out to to be Chinese Fried Chicken, as Kamie calls it, CFC. They advertised a chicken sandwich for 8 Yuan (about $1.25) and a big chicken for 13 Yuan (about $2.00). I ordered the sandwich which looked and smelled amazing. Kamie ordered the big chicken which also looked and smelled amazing. We got to our room to eat and it was a letdown. The chicken had been coated in sugar and then fried. It was sweet. The chicken was dark meat and stringy. Probably not even chicken. It was disappointing. Kamie stated he should have ordered the fried squid necks. Eh. It was the closest thing to western food we have had since arriving... besides those Pringles that were semi-cheesy. It's odd because you see or buy things here and then you taste them and they are nothing like our food at home. I expected this but I have to say, I don't like it. We brought snacks in our suitcases and peanut butter crackers have held me over. Kamie has been eating beef jerky. We really haven't been hungry or we've been too tired to eat so that's nice. A vacation where you lose weight... works for me.

Today was the first time a Chinese person simply walked-up and blatantly took my picture. I smiled and kept walking. I knew being blonde would be different here but I am a tourist attraction for some. It is mildly ego boosting, however I have always known I was a bit of a goddess.

Remember the crazy driving and the bikes everywhere in the middle of it? Tonight there was a wreck outside our hotel window - directly in front of our window. Someone on a bike was hurt but we do not know how bad. There was much discussion and what seemed to be arguing going-on. A lady was bawling and bawling. People from everywhere gathered around, at least fifty or so Chinese people. The tow truck, ambulance, and police showed-up. The arguing and discussing ceased. They towed the bike away. The crying lady did continue and this was very sad to hear. After the police, ambulance and tow truck left, the discussions continued. The Chinese people all gathered around try to see what was happening and to discuss everything. It was very disturbing not knowing what had happened because we could not understand anything but the crying. We did not see the condition of the person put in the ambulance because so many people were crowded around. There are still people out there now. Strange to see it from a perspective of not being able to understand the language. Interesting to see the neighborhood arguing and discussing was only before and after the police left.

Tomorrow we may lose Internet acess for four or five days. In the morning we are taking rickshaw rides through the alleyways of the hutongs ~ to see the way the "old" Chinese have lived for hundreds of years. We will do a home visit with locals tomorrow. In the afternoon we will check-out of our hotel and be transferred to the airport where we will fly from Beijing, China to Yichang, China (pronounced E-Chang). We will embark on our river cruise tomorrow night. Internet on the cruise is sketchy and possibly not available. We will see. We will spend four nights on this cruise before we are then flown to Shanghai so we will try to catch-up with you in Shanghai if we cannot get Internet access while on our river cruise. We have been told by our tour guide that the best part of our tour is the next 8 days and Beijing is the "toughest" part but we have loved our time here in Beijing. We have experienced so much here that it is impossible to write about it all. It has been wonderful.

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Comments

[dad]

look jon in front of wally world O MY he looks just like he does in U S A