Hong Li Yuan Business Hotel Beijing

... familiar.

My point in all this is that the East should find an identity of its own. I like China for what China offers. Of course, there are many areas of improvement but how well it can imitate the Western world should not be one. Welcoming businesses is one thing, but being influenced by their culture is another. Unfortunately, the good tends to come with the bad.

This, of course, while I anticipate Christmas time... ahh, the irony.

... I was crazy when I looked at her in a way too giddy manner, exclaiming 'that hill’ was one of the “funnest” things I had done in Beijing. Half the excitement was flying around blind curves on a bike that with questionable breaks. In respect to how people drive in the mountains here (rarely their designated lane, or slow, or cautious) the whole thing was an adrenaline rush. Around every blind corner and turn was the chance of encounter with a rogue mountain driver ...

... is from UC Santa Cruz and we are getting along well. The rooms are pretty big and we each have our own bathroom. Number one advantage- we have an air conditioner!!! We didn’t realize that for a few hours and it was pretty hot in here. On the flip side- the air conditioner makes awful noises when you leave it on for too long, a mix between a high pitch beeping and a kind of grinding noise. But we have our own desks, closets, drawers, and safes. The shower is ...

... by the stories about imperial characters from Chinese history, I am less than persuaded that they crossed this bridge much. Unless they were carried over. But whether they did or did not, the bridge look truly great indeed. I had to hand it that. After this one, bridges of the Mirror Bridge and Willow Bridge type followed, similar structures in a way, topped at their crowns by some sort of pavilion with the trademark roofs with upturned eaves. And then, maybe for the sake of ...

... pandas escaped although most have been recaptured now, and 5 staff members lost their lives. Sadly this happened during an aftershock after they returned to rescue the animals. Pandas eat 25kg of bamboo a day so after the earthquake this in itself was also a rescue mission to get food to the pandas who as you all know are very endangered. This panda reserve is part of a large national park but this whole area is out of action and will be for some time. Thankfully there was another ...

... that we had to find Asiana airlines so I could get and pay for my new ticket to get home!! Ok...so no one knew where it was even though we had it written in Chinese. It took us 1 hour to find it and we asked about 20 people. Finally I had my new ticket and was ready to shop shop shop. We accomplished our mission and I spent almost the rest of my RMB! Then back to the hotel again to repack and get ready to leave in the morning. We had our last dinner and then went out for whiskey and green tea.

... not really into taking cabs at the mo...but we were mega desperate..it was very very late at night and there was four of us and we figured it better than walking for 2 hours! So Jack told us if we have to get in a cab..to show them our hotel card and they will know where to go..Unker produced hers..and the cabby got the right hump and drove off with his door still open.then we tried again..eventually Unker said we should get in first then show the card..when we did this the cab ...

... the corner oblivious to her own drunkedness. The trip home was fine except I could think of nothing to talk to the driver about except "I've had too much to drink" (never a good choice), "Have you eaten yet?" or "What's your favourite colour?" so I remained silent. The next morning I awoke to find a box in my bed (don't ask because I don't know) and wondered who had been in my house: surely I could not have caused that much destruction between the door and my bed ...

... and i wouldn't pay more than 10 yuan. she hated it and i yelled at her for about 3 minutes while she continuously lowered the price down to 10. i think she was scared because i was starting to draw a crowd from yelling so loud, haha. i ended up buying two of those things and a bunch of other stuff for about 1/10th of their original prices, haha. one guy i bargained with started whining too me 'come on, can't you raise the price any more?' 'nope... i ...

... my little toesies are wet. Shortly followed by wet and cold. The snow that Beijing received has begun to melt in the wonderful 4 degree celcius weather we experienced today. The only people who didn't have cold wet feet were James and Julie. They were smarty pants and wore Tilley socks. We go through The Forbidden City and come to realise that we have to come back. We could spend a good day here and still not see ...