Beijing Oriental Heping Hotel

... and glass beads are interspersed throughout this amazingly unique garland. A bold accessory with endless appeal. 23 1/3" drop.$425Having honed her design skills at Isaac Mizrahi in New York, Bill Amberg and Vita Couture in London, Mawi's individual style won her the New Generation Award for three consecutive seasons. Her irresistible collections are a delightful mix of one-of-a-kind pieces that are inspired ...

... Hmmm...sounds lewd, but we're up for it. When we arrive, the menu is printed on white paper and the waiter informs us that they're only accepting cash until the official "hard" opening. Oh, that's what they meant.

Dinner features a giant dish of chicken paella for sharing, plus some grilled fish. (Later, I confirm with Dennis: our paella definitely tasted like fish. Seafood-infused chicken ...

... looked puzzled for a moment, then held his hand up and waved no as the crowed erupted into laughter. Birnie and I laughed and all of a sudden we were accepted into the gambling circle. They motioned for us to come closer and even offered us to sit down and play. We kindly declined entering the game, but did enjoy watching for a bit.

Thanks birnie for the backup. Score one for the skinny kid!! We waved goodbye to the group and headed back to the hostel.

Beijing, China chrisquared

... friendly) effect on the culture. In the early years of the policy, the birth of a girl was lamented - many women had abortions or abandoned girl babies, which is why people who adopted children from China got girls. But the ratio of men to women is now 130 to 100, turning women into valuable assets. If one looks at the girl babies in the streets of Beijing and Shanghai, one sees that their families are deep into a girly-girl esthetic. There are the headbands, the pink crocheted vests ...

... was large statue that hadn't been touched for a long time,and it just looked great sitting in this old building. On the 3rd of September we arranged to go to the great wall with a tour company that cost 8 pounds each.Along the way the bus stopped at a huge warehouse type building that had loads of buses outside. Turns out we have to go in there to buy little trinkets! such a con! We had a quick look around but didn't buy anything.Also at this stop we realise our 8 pound ticket ...

... off. Upscale hotels, many of which went through costly renovations for the Olympics, have been half-empty in the past three months. Industry executives say it is the worst slump since a severe pneumonia outbreak that jumped from China to the world. "It is almost as bad as 2003, when SARS broke out," said Matthew Lin, director of Bravo Tours China in Shanghai, where he said business is down 30 percent. "Many foreigners canceled their trips or ...

... from there I hiked about 20km along the invigorating stretch past 24 watch towers (some of which were crumbling) to Jinshanling and a bit further. This part which was apparently deemed to dangerous for tourist (which I could appreciate due to some of the treacherous paths, steep accents requiring both hands and precarious plummets) where the wall was falling to bits and in some places in rubble. Still, seeing the wall like this and ...

... his red hair and beard, seems a particular novely. Heads turn to follow him and people crash into things and each other because they forget to look where they're going. I'm not exageratting - staring is not on the Chinese list of social no-no's - they do it openly and without any hint of subtlety. My first night in Beijing one girl tries to physically drag me into her shop claiming to rememeber me. We son learn to be suspicious of anyone trying to befriend or ...

... of fun at the same time! Overall my week in Beijing was certainly unforgettable. It was probably the most culturally enlightening of my trip so far and a week where i certainly had the most fun! Beijing itself was quite different to the two cities I had previously visited. It felt a lot more open and spacey as there were far fewer skyscrapers in the city centre. Furthermore there is a hustle and bustle about Beijing that even makes London look placid. The ...

After much thought, I have decided to move to another blog host: Blogger.com. I like its interface better than here... although I will miss the cool map that shows you where I'm posting from. I'll continue to chronicle my time here in China over on the new site. You can check it out here.