Crowne Plaza Hotel North Beijing

... He stated that a lot of these “vendors” are pick pockets. They sell you something very cheap, see where you keep your money & see how much you have & voila... their job is very easy. It was hard to ignore them as they were very persistent. After about 8 km of walking we had a quick stop at the silk factory & headed out for another Chinese dinner & everybody was back at the hotel and in bed by about 8:30.

... and others not, so it was probably a good thing to take<br>the easy way down.<br><br>On the trip back from the Great Wall we<br>stopped by the Olympic Venue with the Bird Nest and Water Cube. <br>Sophie was able to see and have her picture taken by the Water Cube<br>where Micheal Phelps won all his gold medals. <br><br><br> After dinner we went to an Acrobats<br>show. It was quite amazing, especially the woman who was riding a<br>bike on the ...

... huge holiday for locals, and Beijing is a very popular holiday destination. So unfortunately we had mass crowds of people where ever we went.<br><br>Beijing is a vast, sprawling mass of concrete. Everywhere you walk you feel like you are walking along an expressway or in an area where an expressway ramp ends. You can walk for miles and see nothing but nondescript buildings and multi-lane roads, no people, restaurants, stores ...

... up here &amp; then pay the 40RMB entrance fee. You also need to pay 5RMB to cross a bridge over a green lake. To add to the fun at the end of the walk its worthwhile paying 35RMB to take the zipline back to the carpark. Included in our deal was lunch. We were taken to a restaurant at the bottom carpark &amp; treated to a nice Chinese buffet. The food was basic &amp; nice. Even nicer was the fact that a 600ml bottle of Tsing Tao beer was 5RMB - thats around 50p!!!! Not so nice ...

so before we left the states we got together at daegun and liz's for dinner. the yuns the changs and the lees were all there. at the end of the evening, each couple handed us an envelope to open at 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks into our journey. we opened up the first one and inside there was a wonderful note and a $20 bill courtesy of Earnie and Jane Yun ...

... ve ever witnessed. Literally, everyone was dancing in unison to various American songs and they all knew the dances from the music videos. I felt like I was in some horrible teen movie where all the actors hired for the clearly staged high-school dance were actually bad dancers! After that most spectacular spectacle we were ready to call it a night, finally... not a bad day for waking up just before noon!

... Tanaan jopa jotkut kiinalaisukot on aivan villiintyneet perjantain kunniaksi, ja tulivat jutteleen mulle. Taidemuseossa joku mies sanos etta "Ni hao, You are a cat. You see Chinese?" Yes, I do see Chinese. Not sure about being a cat though. Tarkotuksena oli kait kysya etta you speak Chinese...? Ja ravintolassa kuulin jo aika pitkan aikaa etta joku harjotteli kysymaan whele aal you vlom ennenkun se sitten kiekastiin toiselta puolelta ravintolaa ...

... zwei Tage spaeter ist sie dann auch selbst draufgekommen. Wir verstehen uns also nicht nur gut, sondern haben auch durchaus ab und zu die selben (intelligenten) Gedanken!!!! Haben wir sonst noch was erlebt? Noe, ansonsten wars langweilig. Ach ja, und natuerlich waren wir an der Mauer. Schoen wars. Schoen warm. Selten doof, bei 36 Grad 4 Stunden ueber die Mauer zu wandern. Aber schoen. Ein Hoch auf Lichtschutzfaktor 50+ und unsere Sonnenhuete.

... tweede lading koffers van de tweede groep die ook bij de Muur was. Na enige hectiek en problemen met het overschot aan naamlijsten en verkeerde kamernummers en het nodige gestress van David en de begeleiding van ATP was het om een uur of vijf eindelijk tijd om te gaan. Weer een leerzame dag en weer een unieke overnachtingslocatie gezien, waar overigens heel erg veel Nederlanders rondliepen afgezien van de grote groep van Roche. Het is een geliefde locatie voor ...