Blogs from Beijing, China, Asia - page 460

There's two main parts to this blog; 1) Our visit to The Forbidden City (hereafter referred to as FC because it takes to long to type it every time), and 2) Some info about how completely wonderful the Chinese acrobats are. Having your photo taken by the locals Firstly, we want to tell you about the bizarrre experience we had on our way to the FC..... Do you remember when we were in Bangkok last year, visiting Wat Po, and the group of Chinese or Japanese ladies grabbed Shaz and pulled her in to have her photo taken with various members of their group...? Well, it's happened again, only this time Alan was nabbed too, and it occurred three times in the space of half an hour in Tiananmen Square! It's the craziest thing, really - ... read more

Our third day in Beijing involved an early start - on the bus at 7.30am and a 4 hour drive out to the Great Wall at Jinshanling. We then had a nice wee 10km stroll ahead of us along the wall to Simatai where we were to be picked up. Of course the guys building the wall opted to build it across the most difficult route possible.... after all, why go around a hill along a nice flat valley when you can go over the hill, and the one after that, and the one after that and.... So the 10km walk takes @ 4hrs. The day we did it was a beautiful sunny day but sooo hot that at the end of it we fairly collapsed back onto the bus. It was one of the best ... read more

Tues 23rd. May.　Ｓｈａｎｇｈａｉ． After a nonevent breakfast, we walk through the chaotic streets to the Bund. This is a beautiful promenade, with spectacular views of the city's skyscrapers and the unique Pearl Tower. The Huang Pu River is awash with all sizes of boats and like the traffic, they seem to have little lane discipline. The sun is up there somewhere, because it's hot, but the pollution puts a thick layer of mist everywhere. Unfortunately it doesn't obliterate the many touts and beggars. We expected better of Shanghai. Next on our itinery is Yu Yuan Gardens and Jim is amazed at how many tourist shops have sprung up around the entrance. For all the world the buildings look centuries old, so we start to wonder how much authentic architecture we actually have seen. The waterways around ... read more

Okay dokey, pig in a pokey! You'll be glad to know that we're in a slightly better mood tonight. We've still got the rotten cold from hell, however we think it might be on the mend after spending today doing absolutely hee haw except for sleeping, watching films on HBO channel, eating nice food and munching on the Panadols. Since arrived in Beijing we've been pretty floored with this wee cold virus thingy that we picked up in Shanghai, so we haven't got around to seeing as much as we wanted to so far. However - we HAVE been to walk on the good ole Great Wall, and we've been to see Tiananmen Square and a little bit of the Forbidden City, and even managed to fit in a short trip to see one of the ... read more

So here I am 12 hours ahead of normal American Eastern standard time and making my way through the roads of Tsinghua University and the streets of Beijing, China and my $20 bike. I'm in China and I'm loving it! So this blog is going to be set up with specific topics each time I write. I wish I could write something for everyday, but everyone here is always doing something whether it be riding the bike into the city or just hanging around on campus, so I don't have as much time to do things later in the night. SOWEY! For three days I have already taken 150+ pictures, and I KNOW I will get over 1000 after this trip is over. Wishing everyone a happy summer!!! SKYPE ME, or I might just call you! ... read more