Guorun Commercial Hotel Beijing

... incredibly detailed directions for which bus to take, what places to look for and what stops to get off. We decided on a whim to try it and see where we ended up but we had no faith that her directions were correct. Sure enough though, an hour later, we found our market.

One more quick thing that I thought was interesting... October 1st was the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, which was a huge deal because 6 is the most auspicious number for reasons I don't ...

... die eh schon nicht zahlreichen Waschbecken im Gemeinschaftswaschraum blocki**te. Da wir ab** schon weitaus schlimm**es gesehen hatten, konnten wir uns die paar Tage dann auch noch damit arrangi**en.

Die letzten Tage uns**** Tour wollten wir dann noch einmal die letzten En**gi**es**ven aktivi**en und uns die Sehenswu**digkeiten Pekings, die grosse Mau** und die unzaehligen Shoppingcent** ansehen. Da Nax es garnicht mehr abwarten konnte, ging sie dann auch gleich los zum shoppen ...

... both made a run for it! As soon as the sellers realise you are from the West they are all over you. It was quite an experience. On the evening we went for a meal with Barry & Alyna and tried peking duck which is what Beijing is famous for. Was really nice. We finished off the night playing cards (president) and chilled out at the hostel. Another good day in Beijing.

... that. "At least basic education should become a universal right." Zheng said the leadership must understand there is much to be gained by pouring money into basic education and social security. "Social gains will come in the long run: we have made the poor potential human capital, and they will now contribute to society, making society more stable. We need to accelerate this process to realize social harmony." http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2 008-08/28/content_6977384.htm

... to ensure the Olympics go off without a hitch, China has embarked on an ambitious security programme following reported threats by the Uighurs. It has deployed Red Flag 7 missiles. The US, Britain and Interpol have issued travel warnings even as Interpol's help has been sought to gather names, fingerprints, photographs and DNA profiles of anyone who might pose a threat. For the duration of the Olympics, China will have automated access to Interpol's passport and visa ...

... him. He was a good lead and had this weird Saturday Night Fever move he did. Walking through the par, we also saw a few school groups with young children that made their own flags. From here we found a subway station and went up to TiananMen Square. On the Museum of the Revolution there is a countdown clock for the Olympics and when we were there it was only 133 days to the Olympics start. While we were on the square a young ...

... E of the station...it is not that difficult to find if you start walking E instead of W as we did...after some 20min or so walk I was getting little tired and started to think that such bus does not even exist when we realised we had to walk the other direction instead.Nice!!!...and..there are about 5 different 919 buses, of ...

... from reading too much Peter Hessler and the New York Times, as well as from other people's experiences in the city. I thought it was going to be noisy, dirtied by tons of pollution, confusing and overwhelming. I was expecting it to be a little ugly and overall not very pleasant. I didn't really find any of this to be true. Of course, I can't tell you that Beijing is always like this. It wasn't cold so people weren't heating their homes with coal yet, so ...

... they are beginning to crack just slightly painful at this point a mere 1 on the scale of 1-5. (LeadAR Brenda, I need you!!!) Anyhow, there is foot massage available here, so I humble myself to find out if they can help me with my problem. I'll let you use your imagination here to picture that conversation with 2 young Chinese girls. Bottom line they only rub, no chiseling involved. So, the next place to look for the proper ...

... Spitting is sooo common in China, everyone from kids to proper looking old ladies do it and very loudly I might add. It goes back to Chinese medicine (getting rid of phlegm is important to stay healthy) and probably the dust and smog. That will be a much tougher one. Now they are trying to get people to do it into tissues because they won't stop all together. The next campaign is getting rid of the "Chinglish" (what the expats and ...