Second Artillery Corps Guesthouse Beijing

The wolves were ferocious and persistent, but they lacked stamina. After four or five miles, they had already been left far behind, and another five miles further on, Yuan shouted: "Let's rest for a while!" They all dismounted and ate some rations while Hahetai herded the animals together. When the wolves began to close in, they started off again.
They continued south in this way, stopping occasionally to rest. Later in the day, two Muslim riders ...

... any of the hundreds, it was impossible for me to tell. My vantage point there wasn't exactly the VIP one. But when PingPing and I got started towards Tiān'ānmén Dong and out of the crowd, it certainly felt as if we were just two people among one or two hundred thousand that had gathered there. The human mass all around us seemed vast, almost endless. And there seemed to be no difference whether you should stay and wait for the mass to thin down or try to leave the place as soon as ...

... happy hour deals. 1/2 off pizza and drinks from 5-10! We had a blast- playing drinking games for a few hours before hitting the bars- i think we might have scared jane a bit with how intense everyone was getting during "*******." We found "shooters," a bar well known for their crazy shots and good music. Everyone was throwin em back and having a great time. We met a lot of other foreigners and danced the night away- helped that DJ was awesome ...

... help is to be wearing one of the orange official accreditation documents issued by the IOC to journalists, officials and athletes, a system that effectively establishes a state-within-a-state in the host city. The laminated pass that dangles round your neck is more important than a passport, and doubles as a visa for the duration of the Olympics. Crucially for anyone working at the Games, it also grants access inside the security bubble erected by the ...

... park busking, playing different types of Chinese instruments. The temple itself was quite awesome as well, lots of detail put into the entire building.

From here we drove to Tian Amen square, but unfortunately because of some stragglers we had at the temple of heaven, we only had time to walk through the square to the forbidden city where we would be rehearsing. It was raining as well, but it still would have been nice to be able to walk around a ...

... preservation; the historic buildings I visited were renovated to such an extent that it was difficult to tell the difference between the old and the new. In recent years, the presence of commercial enterprises in the Forbidden City has become controversial. At the centre of the controversy was a Starbucks store which opened in 2000 and sparked great public objections. The store was eventually closed on July 13, 2007 which is a bit of a shame as I would've loved a ...

... Mr. Gates creates DOS, cranks it up into Microsoft and quite deservedly is now hugely wealthy. Some guy decides that we all need designer coffee instead a cup of instant Folgers and he now owns Seattle...good for him. Some 23 year old kid writes an amazing script, it gets optioned for a couple grand...it gets made three years later, after 3 hacks rip it apart with re-writes and the head of Warners gets a new Benz, some very pretty girl who ...

... visited Hailong tan pools and Yunmeng Gorge. 30 min from Pinggu by bus nr. 8 or 9 (can't remember)we came to the stunningly new Jiangjunguan New Village and its solar-panel-topped villas. There was also a small strip mall there with a large restaurant and small shops selling daily use items. Here, there were no kitschy tourist booths, no cable cars to the top, which was very high in the sky. There were, instead, locals who seemed to appreciate those who appreciated ...

... to do it, and they just go on with their daily life. Just a little tidbit we learned here. We took some great pictures with some great views up in the hills, and then headed to lunch. We stopped at an authentic Chinese restaurant and got lunch. We got: Seabass (if that gentlemen over there is SeaBass), Chicken with Peppers, Chicken and vegetables, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Corn and vegetables, Bean Curd, Sizzlin Steak, and a pork dish. This all came with fried and steamed rice. Oh, and ...

On the 30th, my "21st Century Beijing" class took a trip to the countryside for the afternoon. Surprisingly, the "countryside" was only 2 hours outside of Beijing. Granted, this trip was through a travel company called "Wild China" if that gives you any idea. It was a tourist spot and definitely not the hard core countryside, but it was good for accomodating 35 American kids. So, we took a bus early ...