Beijing J&R Hotel

... blankly, numb to the fact that I was being steadily dragged back to the bargaining table.

They wanted 480kuai but for a student they would take 360 kuai, I replied there was no way I’d pay over 80 kuai for the damn thing, there was some more bargaining back and forth. I stated I was no longer interested, by this point I was dealing with three women,(while others looked on, I’m beginning to notice a trend here) one of which kept a hand on or ...

... I arrived at was not the same one that I had left Beijing from! But I kept walking and did eventually find it. It never occurred to me, however, that the subway would be crowded because of morning rush hour! I had to let 2 very crammed trains pass by. The sweat was pouring down my back as I finally pushed my way on to the congested third train. A few stops down the line, I had to transfer to another line. No big deal but it just meant more pushing and shoving! After a few ...

... kinds of strange food and not so nice smells. After that we went to Houhai lake which is a lake with lots of bars and restaurants located around it, really nice at night. Then we ended the night in the smallest bar in Beijing called 12sq metres (its size) which was cool, lots of cheesy music but fun! Gemma and I got up early on our last day with the purpose of getting to Tianamen square really early and start queuing to go in ...

... ando para foto, e tinha uma ou outra que se tocava que ele estava acompanhado, e comigo... Mas depois fui acostumando e já não me importava mais. Até me oferecia para fazer a foto com todas e o MEU MARIDO(!!! ops!!) no meio.... =P Só um bebê ou outro que as vezes começava a chorar quando via o Marcão, mas aí ele resolveu tirar a barba e tudo certo... Maaasss o segundo movimento foi o mais estranho e realmente ...

... The furore surrounding their gymnasts, some accused of being under-age - just 14 - tarnished a carefully cultivated image. Between East and West they were the parallel games: China dominated gymnastics, weightlifting, diving. The US dominated volleyball, track and field, swimming and shooting. Australia, with 14 gold , 15 silver and 17 bronze medals, was most prominent in the pool, in sailing and rowing. Some countries won their first gold medals - Panama ...

... run a 100-room Comfort Inn & Suites hotel in downtown Beijing since 2002. Hui will open two more hotels in the city in the next few weeks before moving on to the rest of northern China, for which he holds the exclusive franchise rights. "This has really impacted our business poorly. This was supposed to be a really glorious time, but it has been even worse than we expected," said Hui. That said, he added -- and this may offer some small insight into what the Chinese government ...

... on Sunday (portabella mushrooms and artichoke here I come!), and Monday we leave for Sichuan. Final trip of my year here in China, ah! I better take a lot of pictures.... You may have also heard in the news about some other "events" happening on a certain plateau of China. Just know that I've been warned not to mention anything about it or forward articles about it in email or blogs. Things are very sensitive right now. Let's just say the smog is especially overbearing these days.....

... The buildings are a bit more of a hotch potch than the exacting symmetry of the Forbidden palace and T of H. But amongst the increasingly repetitive Buddhist temples and imperial bed chambers there are some real gems. My favourite are the views from the top of the Buddhist incense burning temple over the whole park, the preposterous marble boat pavilion only boat shaped not ship shaped. South street, a mock up of a canal shopping ...

... for our 24 hour trip to Beijing. We stocked up with noodles, fruit, chips, sushi, octopus balls, milk tea, seaweed salad, mango nectar, a tropical medley of dried fruit, sliced apples and pistachio nuts. It was a slightly odd mix, but it did its job. We rushed back to the hostel and grabbed our bags. Up until this point in the day we had remained almost completely dry, but we had to carry our bags 1 block to the metro station and that ruined everything. Also, the handle ...

On our way out of the country, we were able to meet up with the Ingot, a former co-worker. The only big thing we'd not yet seen in Beijing was the Old Summer Palace, so we went. White man committed another pity (see: Dunhuang, 2006 Spring Festival holiday entry) by destroying it back in the day. It was pretty neat and there was something about walking among the ruins. The OSP is located in a massive park with lots of frozen bodies of water on which people walked ...