Jinchi Mangshan Conference Center Beijing

... les transports: je reussis a rentrer, et c'est pas mal plein. Les etrangers s'arretent et attendent, les chinois foncent, poussent, se creusent une place au sein de pas de place. Y'en font apparaitre.

Une chance que Jacob avait decider de venir a l'aeropot, parce que j'avais beau avoir des directions, je serais arriver a l'hotel la journee d'apres. Y'a beaucoup moins de personnes qui connaissent l'anglais que je pensais. Tout le monde assume que meme si t'es ...

... good because a room receipt was required for registration. So we make our way to the conference center.

What we walk into is, effectively, a small mob of angry foreign multi-national people, armed with suitcases negotiating with the harried-looking Chinese desk clerks. I join the mob, behind what looks to be the shortest line. I notice the panic-stricken guy from the registering bulletins on the outskirts of the mob and walk over to tell him that I should have a room and if ...

... see Mao's body which they have preserved in a freezer and bring up each day for the public to see but despite getting there an hour and half before it opened it seems that the chinese were more eager to see him than us for some reason and the queues were massive when we got there. Decided to cut our losses and go straight to the Olympic village instead. Went into the birds nest and seen the swimming pool from outside but didn't ...

... definidamente o que senti ante a estética das chinesas. Feias. O problema não é delas, certo? É meu. Tem muitos e infinitos fãs da beleza delas e os incomodados que se mudem. Mas... começou a acontecer dois movimentos interessantes. O primeiro é que o Marco Aurélio é simplesmente o darling master aqui na China. É muito mais pêlo, barba, cachos, sombrancelhas e olhos árabes que eles estão acostumados. E tudo isso ...

... signature reggae dancing down the back straight of the Bird's Nest or the sight of Michael Phelps's massive spreadeagled arms are the most lasting impressions. Or will it be Li Ning's sensational lap of honour around the top of the stadium before he lit the flame? Certainly China put on a sporting extravaganza that was unparalleled for its organisation. The buses ran on time, the technology worked most of the time and, importantly, the sporting moments were ...

... of people itching to see what a laowai can and can't do. They applauded heavily at the end, but I could hear them muttering as I went. Shaowen worked with me on the form for an hour and a half. It was getting wicked hot and humid, and I've never sweat so much doing Tai Chi. Before long, we'd fixed most of my mistakes. There are always ALWAYS mistakes in Tai Chi, especially with a Chinese teacher. We took a break from the Dao and I was asked to demonstrate the ...

... highlights of last night's big game. It is the same with this exercise. It is easy to fix any problem in a simulation, but add a screaming producer, a demanding director, and your professional life flashing before your eyes...I'm not sure it will be so easy to tell that something simply was unplugged, or a dipswitch was accidentally misadjusted. All I know, is they serve a nice catered meal, and the afternoon coffee break cookies are delicious.

... bookstore in an orgy of literary shopping unlike anything I've ever let myself do before. English books are hard to find in Foshan, and in this bookstore I even got some Spanish books to help jog my memory in that language. And some Chinese-language-learning tools, and.... ahhh. Bags of merchandise in hand, we decided to make good on our secondary challenge for that day: eat weird ...

... Amanda's grandma had a typical dinner prepared for us. It consisted of porridge, dense rice pyramids, hand made dumplings, and vegetables. It was very simple but substantial. To help relieve our overfed bodies, we walked back to the park with Amanda and her dad and played a few games of Badminton and net--less tennis. The park was teeming with people, a lot of children, elderly folks, and couples. I have never seen a park so well used, and it appeared that everybody was enjoying ...

... in history and culture, but I think it would have to be Xi'an. For those of you that knew me when I was but a young nipper of 10, you may remember that I failed my Cycling Proficiency test. This has been an embarrasing weight around my neck for 13 years, and I have not been on a bike since. However, in Xi'an a couple of the group persuaded me it would be a good idea to cycle around the city wall. I did it and it was such a thrill! I ...