Cts Plaza Beijing

... la y'ont commencer a se grinder comme des gorilles en chaleur. Tellement que la dame a du a un certain point expliquer qu'elle etait mariee (ce qui explique sa toutounerie) faque on l'a pris en sandwich pis on est aller chiller dehors. Ou plutot tenter de pas mourir. Le monde semblait beaucoup moins droit que d'habitude.

Faque la on part a Xi'An ce soir a 9 heure, 14 heures de train mais cette fois j'ai pris des lits mous, donc ca sera ben ...

... heard some one from behind say with a loud voice:
“Accept my congratulations, Brother Yü-ts’un; I’ve now come, with the express purpose of giving you the welcome news!”
Yü-ts’un lost no time in turning his head round to look at the speaker. But reader, if you wish to learn who the man was, listen to the details given in the following chapter.

... Beijing's shopping districts. While I can't really say it was obvious by the number of cars, for number of cars was huge everywhere, I can say it was obvious by the number of bicycles. For the first time the number of bicycles in Beijing reminded me of the number of bicycles I had seen in China two years before. I guess it was no chance that in both cases it happened in shopping districts. Right at the corner between Xichang'an Jie and Xidan Beidajie we found a tower block carrying ...

... I'm not allowed to go to as an American. How could I not cheer for him? At least that's how I saw it. Either way, he made it a very exciting match, by throwing his opponent in the final period of the third round securing his gold. Go Cuba! Houhai and Home All wrestled out and ready to explore, we headed to Houhai Lake to eat and drink. The man-made lake is a beautiful place to relax and hang out. Gathered at the front entrance were tons of Chinese playing ...

... out. However, even beginning to think about what's at the tip of the iceberg reminds me that certain things cannot be taken for granted here in China. What's a right in the US may only be a privilege in China. Privileges can quickly be revoked. We'll know better with time, but for now maybe it's best to squeeze in a couple more trips to the bar districts in the next few weeks in case things get weird. And, hopefully, by then I'll be sporting some new Crocs.

... in China. They were taring down their history for the sake of economic progress. What was once an amazing view of the Forbidden City has become another example of the long list of things that used to be nice. Only about a third of the city was visible through the haze and the cameras seemed to pick up more of the haze then our eyes making our pictures look worse than reality. I doubt photoshop could even help much. You can literally taste the air. We ended our day ...

... It is a huge rounded building of glass and steel surrounded by a shallow moat. It's ultra modern - a big contrast to the stuffy, square Russian-Communist architecture of Tiananmen. The rest of the morning we toured the Forbidden City. We took lots of great pictures of the kids and families and learned lots about the Ming and Qing dynasties (the last 2 dynasties of China.) It was fairly ...

... for the next month! I have however picked up some bad habits. One: noisy, messy, slobbery eating-- perfectly acceptable in China, but I'll have to remind myself chew with my mouth closed when I get back to the States. Two: spitting-- I have developed the Beijing hacking cough. The air is so polluted and dusty that everyone has a constant phlegm problem, and hence spitting on the street is common. Although I have made a personal pledge to quit that, since ...

... to be so silly in school. Blake--you are a star in China!!! They think little Morgan (my niece) looks like a ballerina princess in her dress. And, of course, they all seem to be in love with Garrett's eyes. (nephew). Funny thing is--they thought Karen looked just like me...but Kelly didn't get a comment. I think it's because she looks Chinese. :) LOL. I'm off to bed. I think the Great Wall or the Forbidden city tour is tomorrow. So, I need some sleep!

... with stomach illness for one entire day of the trip. The shopping mall is alot of fun. Very aggressive salespeople though. If you don't like to argue prices, this may not be the place for you! If you do, you can get some great deals on pearls, silk and men's custom made suits! We did venture out one evening to a famous Peking Duck restaurant in a local hutong (walled in neighborhood). The taxi can only take you so far because the ...