Beijing Badaling Hot Spring Resort

... me (which Ying told me today he wanted to get all day but was too shy to ask) - and we left. There's no hanging around after a Chinese meal, something I think Vincent will appreciate very much. Oh, also, poor, suffering Yen paid for everything all day, but I'd just like to point out that in one of the finest and most famous restaurants in Beijing a meal to fill three people costs just under Y250. Which is about E30. Suck on that, Irish restaurant system.

Yen ...

... myths about the wall are untrue. For example, the wall was completely ineffective. Also, the wall can not be seen from outer space. We laughed as we had a hard time seeing the wall on the next ridge let alone from the moon. I wonder how that rumor even got started.
We made it back to our cab driver who we woke up and headed back into town. He made good time so he decided to take us on a little ...

The morning on my last day in Bĕijîng before departure to North Korea dawned hazy. It was difficult to determine whether it was cloudy hazy or polluted hazy. Maybe both. There were some shy indications of sunshine outside, but not nearly enough to call the day pretty. A fleeting thought passed through my mind that I might kind of look for a shirt and tie. At least to soothe my conscience. But after some introspection and soul-searching I positively ...

So I realized that I have yet to share my post-election thoughts. Before reading on, please check out my friend Mackie's article which was published in the Ithaca Journal. It captures the expat in China excitement quite nicely: http://www.theithacajournal.com/article /20081112/OPINION02/811120302/1014/OPIN ION As for my own thoughts: I am very excited for our nation, and I think that President-Elect Obama represents the kind of ...

... talk more of that later, and bought some nice Adidas trainers ready for the 10k trek along the wall. Shorty after this purchase we went for pizza, again. This I feel was a grave mistake. About two hours later I was in agony with trapped wind. I was literally sitting on the toilet bent double screaming at the top of my voice in agony. I likened it to the pain of Childbirth, each time I felt the pain coming I told Sarah it was a contraction. Now I'll admit I'll never ...

... to avoid bad publicity. The controversy surfaced again during the 2002 World Cup. Organizers, under pressure from animal rights groups, demanded the South Korean government tackle the issue. Wang Tao, manager of a Korean barbecue chain restaurant in Beijing, said he would adhere to the ruling. Animal welfare activists have hailed the move. He Yong, from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said removing dog meat from menus was a good thing. "The ...

Hej! Syntes lige jeg ville give en lidt fyldigere opdatering om Beijing. Vi er nu paa dag fire og har valgt at slappe lidt af efter et par intense sightseeing dage. Vi var jo som skrevet foer inde at se den forbudte by, hvor det dog til tider foeltes som om at vi var den stoerste attraktion. Igaar tod vi paa tur til den store mur. Vi tog med paa en arrangeret tur fra vores ...

... Wall. Sky was blue, temperatures moderate, and even the sun didnt seem to be too burny (I wore longsleeves and lots of sunscreen, that probably helped). At the end of the hike is a zip line across a gorge to a boat to cross a lake. As another Brit said at the hostel before we left, it was all very James Bond. Made it back to Beijing around 9:30pm, and had a tasty dinner of chicken, cabbage, tomatos and egg. Yum!

... of the stuff i bought worked and its cheap enough so why not. Actually wearing one of the watches helped to repell other would be touts. They see a westerner and jump out at you "watch sir?" just show them your wrist with your shiney new watch and they leave you alone. Its worth the $10 just for that. Next i decided to follow the Lonely planet guide books advice and visit the Jinmao tower at over 400 feet its Chinas 2nd tallest building. You can ...

... it up' in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. The place was absolutely packed with Chinese tourists on tours, all wearing stupid bright yellow caps and it was near impossible to get photos without any one in them. After walking around for a while we noticed a few of the locals trying to take sneeky pictures of us, at first it made us feel really paronoid, in the end we started to pose for them he he.