Home Inn Beijing Sanlihe

... beat- resulting in an onslaught of unspeakable ends. I (logically) figured the best way to learn the rules of the road safely, would be with a group of seasoned road cyclists- biking from one of the busy Beijing districts to the airport, and back.

The ride was to begin at the same bike store I would be renting from. The morning was a crisp 23 degrees (Fahrenheit!) with an unexpected wind that seemed to blow right through you. I waited in the wind, my arms cradled with ...

... cover the back of your chair w/ a "chair cozy" AND hover over you so thoroughly that your precious cell/smart phone will find itself in a neat little protective ziplock baggie before you know it. Now *that's* service! But, of course, we forgot the name of the place...

THU 10/29/09 - I've been feeling sick the past couple of days (nothing to do with hot pot), so Dennis has generally been on his ...

... magic and we were on our way to Jinshanling. Our plan was to do the 10K hike from Jinshanling to Simitai and have the driver meet us at the end to bring us back to where we could catch a local bus. We arrived at Jinshanling's section of the wall by 8am and had beat the crowd for sure. We were already at a more remote location of the wall, so definitely less touristy, and getting here this early had its rewards. Peace and quiet. The only people around were the local touts ...

... grew from a population of 30,000 in 1850 to well over a million and a half by 1900, one sees a comparable jump in Chongqing where there were 500,000 only 20 years ago and now 32 million. It is difficult to say whether the high-rise buildings which clutter the landscape are being put up or torn down. It seems both are going on at the same time as some of the modern buildings, shoddily constructed in the early years of industrialization, are being renovated or razed, while new ...

... All of a sudden we have to walk about 1 mile to get to the next street to catch the bus! After walking for about 30 minutes in a random direction, we stop to look in this shop that randomly had a Formula one car inside . So we spend time chatting to the shop people and looking at the latest gadgets, then leave. As we came out of the shop the whole place was desserted, no cars or people just us and police!! About 8 policemen came up to us and asked for our olympic ...

... production for the games, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Zheng Jiang, vice chairman of Beijing environment bureau. The interruption of steel production is expected to have little effect trade because most of Beijing's output goes into construction, said Linda Lin, a Shanghai-based analyst for the industry newsletter Metal Bulletin. She said only 15 percent of China's steel production last year was exported. "July and August ...

... Climbed the Wall shirts...3 for just one dollar" and the ancient soldier and lady with a camel who wanted $ for a picture....funny! We rode the cable car up so we had time to walk about and it was an experience of my lifetime. Afterward, we stopped at The Schoolhouse compound which is where some philanthropic folks are modernizing a hutong community. They are using hutongs as the basis and building gorgeous homes around them ...

... Sightseeing bus centre, and choose route A. This included a trip to some lakes, the Mong Tombs and the Great Wall at Badaling, well so I thought! After boarding the bus with our very stern looking female tour guide we set off to the lakes. After about an hour we arrived at what looked like the theme park that time forgot. Its turns out that the lakes were actually a run down set of rides. The first ride set the tone for the rest of this debacle, it was a slow ...

... every night because of the cheap drinks and the great pole in the middle of the dance floor. Indeed I do not think the Chinese really knew how to pole dance until we rocked up, with one local trying hopelessly to kick her leg onto the pole not realising she kept kicking people and drinks out of peoples hands! One night in particular gets a very special mention, our fancy dress themed night! This saw 30 people from Leo's take over Kai bar and saw Owen, Mike and ...

... no sleep on the plane we awoke well rested and ready for our first day here! After a delicious western style breakfast, we headed into town. The weather remained foggy and not great for scenery shots, except for the ones where the tall buildings seemed to disappear into the clouds. We spent the day in central district. Being a Sunday, the only day off for all the Filipino amahs working in Hong Kong, the area was crowded with thousands of nannies. They come well ...