Hangmeizhijia Service Apartment Hotel Beijing

... reasons for has also been because of the H1N1 flu virus and the need to keep us isolated from large areas of local inhabitants for our safety as well as their own. Dinner was a simply affair and I find myself in-front of my laptop again not only writing this log but also helping my brother with his essay as he has this essay and also a university assignment to deal with.

A slow day.

... being a software engineer in China was not a bad deal.

After her initial explanation, our bus drove us to a specific software company’s site. On the way we passed a building which would have resembled a UFO, had we not been informed by our host that the design represented a CD ROM in the middle, surrounded by four computer mouses, and was meant to hold, among other things, a four-star hotel. We were met by a young man who came to ...

... Chinese characters. I take my place in the soft seat waiting room. It's a large room with a bar at one end and dozens of low tables surrounded by easy chairs. The room is full of people and piles of luggage. The sound of contented Chinese chatter fills the air. Half an hour before departure the gates open and I follow the crowd across the wide platform to the train, which seems to stretch out of sight in both directions. I find my bunk, which is in a 4 bed compartment ...

... Bird's Nest stadium. Scalping is illegal in China and Bocog had promised to clamp down on an activity usually rife in China. Officially those found guilty of the offence face a 1,500 yuan fine and 15 days detention. Unofficially, there are reports that offenders face up to four years in "re-education" labour camps. While clamping down on security, Chinese organisers reacted to criticisms about the lack of life around the sports venues by saying they would ...

... at all then a couple weeks worth of rain drops, just drops from the sky, over the course of only a couple hours. We hid under an awning (I've never hidden from rain before but it was terrifying). The street literally filled up and the water was gushing out onto the sidewalk (this is fine except all the pollution in the sky came down with the water and made us smell... worse than flowers). I wouldn't have traded that night for ...

... the emperors used for high celebrations. There are buildings around it and a large courtyard. Check out the photos. One of the long walls has all of the ceremonial bells that were used - it was incredibly impressive. We then drove north to the Great Wall. Sandy & Tony (hotel staff that accompanied me) said it would take an hour, but I don't think it was that long. On our way, we drove through many different areas of Beijing. One of the ...

... rugby players don't seem to have same measurements). I was highly impressed to see one small bike was used to transport half a Ming Dynasty to the new owners. I soon understood why bikes are used as I walked past the single-file car parking system which means everyone has to time their departure at once or be sitting in their blocked-in cars for hours on end with a parking attendant in military uniform ineffectually waving, spitting and snorting out the contents of his ...

... and I'm sorry but that jus does not sound like a lot of fun and I spent a good five minutes mocking it. I discovered that for the first forty-five minutes it was ridiculous, and all we did was gather our 'chi' and well it was kinda fun but really strange. Then we got the choice to wander around and stay there and learn some more. I for some reason chose to stick around, don't know why but I am actually glad I did, for you see tai chi is actually a martial art ...

... to get exit without paying ...... there was a huge fountain and people deposited money there for wishes. lots and lots of it We went up to the second level of the last building and took pictures. There are other tombs that are not excavated but they are waiting for the technology to preserve the items instead of having them get ruined by the air. Isn't it wonderful that so many things are waiting to be ...

... to our room, Matt and I tried to pack for our adventure and quickly found that I needed something bigger than my fanny pack and definitely smaller than my backpacker's pack. We went back to the vendors and negotiated for a black drawstring bag with a decal of a panda on one side and a Great Wall logo on the other. I got it for Y15 ($2). We left most of our stuff under a blanket in the dorm room we booked and headed out. Tickets to get into Simatai were Y40 each ...