Beijing Hate Business Hotel

... bus so I decide to shimmy and bump my way back to an upright position. The bus takes off again, and as the bodies sway from one side to another in unison, I realize we are taking a winding mountain road. I sigh. The ride cannot possibly be much longer for me. Luckily, it was a cool day and with the windows open, the lot of us crammed into the aisles of this bus, were able to gulp some of the cooling air to make the whole experience bearable. Two elderly men sitting near the ...

... Beijing proper to protect the people of the city from the impending Capitalist invasion. Following our trusty LP map, we found ourselves on the wrong side of a very high blue fence, which on the right side was covered in pictures of buildings. The area, which was parallel to the 'traditional' Chinese street from earlier, appeared to be an actual traditional Chinese street, and apparently of the kind that the Beijing authorities would rather the tourists didn't see ...

... first of which just passed while the other is just about two months off, have yet to lead to tighter restrictions like we saw last summer. However, those two T-dates are ones Beijing wants to downplay. October 1st, on the other hand, figures to be a major media extravaganza rivaling the Olympic Opening Ceremonies for bombast and pageantry. You can bet that those in charge don't want any pesky ...

... dinner and headed to the train station. We all assumed, stupidly, that there would be taxis or a mini bus booked for us and all our luggage but there wasn't. We had to walk with our bags to the end of a road so we could hail taxis ourselves, no one was impressed by the lack of organization. We get to the train station and have to battle our way through a security check and then upstairs to our platform. The train station was possibly the biggest Ive ever seen, it ...

... exhausted to let it all sink in. However, I was still very excited to see this match, but it didn't really hit me until I was actually inside the venue. I could hardly believe that I had Olympic Waterpolo tickets in my hand. Once I was inside the pool, bam!, it hit me like a brick to the face and sucked the air right out of me. There really is something about the Olympics and seeing the pool all olympic-y. I was sooo lucky to be there. I ...

... Palace Silver Street Hotel, and are met with this grand looking lobby...quite impressive. As soon as I leave the lobby, I am confronted with the truth...this is a 100 year old building which has gone through several remodelings. The best example is that my room window provides me a view of a wall so a some point there actually was a view of the city but during one of the expansions it was walled shut. It definitely ...

... of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 rooms and covers 720,000 square metres. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Since 1924, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artefacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The ...

... with a western toilet ... hurrah To get to the bed we need to climb some steep steps up towards the ceiling. The bed is essentially a mattress on the floor, but it looks comfortable enough. Despite our room being compact, it is wonderful and full of charm. Our room is locked with a padlock which is the most unusual security I have seen in somewhere I have stayed, but I love the quirkiness. The room opens into the communal living space and at the heart ...

... watched couples play hacky sack and just relaxed. I finished the evening wandering into more hutong neighborhoods and their markets, attempting to get lost. I stuffed myself on 4 yuan of street food and just enjoyed feeling like I was the only white person in all of China. Everyone seemed just as surprised to see me and generally happy. Maybe everyone, like me, is just happier that there are blue skies.

... jaw-dropping beauty & enormityof it all. The show celebrated all of China with spectacular costumes, dancing, singing and comedy skits. We experienced all of China's culture in one sitting. If anyone gets CCTV, please watch for us in the audience when they air the show on Febrary 17 (might be 13 hours earlier at home). After the show and catching our breath, we headed to the Beijing Subway to go to ...