Jing Bin Beijing

... and quickly found another cohort in the Tibetan scheme- we decided to venture to the restaurant on Thursday.

If I liked this place the first time, the second time was even better. Tibetan serenades, yak tongue, yak meat, free scarves, and live music- I believe I have found the recipe for happiness. We ordered far too much, we ate far too much- and a stomach full of yak tongue, yak meat, and other such novelties is a dangerous stomach to say the least. We were even treated to ...

... are lots of interesting places to stumble across and surprises around every corner. In the end I ...

... my hostel the next day, and found, it actually wasn't that scary after all. The subway system is easy to follow and makes getting round the city quick and cheap, 20p a pop no matter how far you are going. A brand new shopping street with imposing modern Chinese architecture runs down from the main city square. Teaming with people clinging to the the small pieces of cool shade that run down one side, nearly all the shops are empty, waiting to ...

... was quite good for photos, the water was frozen and you could here funny banging noises under the water and at parts the ice was cracking. When we got 3 quarter of the way around the damn we could see the wall where it kind off had a dam and the water ran trough it (or it would if it wasn't frozen. We were able to amble up the hill and get on top of the old wall and walk a bit up to where it met the road and the main pathway again. We ...

... back at the apartment by a bit after midnight where we happily fell into bed. Sunday 17th August Alison: We had a nice sleep-in and after making French Toast for brekky, watching some of the games in Chinese on telly and generally ******* around, we eventually got going. This time we decided to walk to the subway, and on the way there stopped for lunch at a little restaurant which ...

... the world. The Beijing Games, which kick off on Aug. 8, are hardly an exception. While Chinese leaders furiously insist they're not, and should not be, "political," these Olympics promise to become one of the most charged in history. Rarely has a more varied array of contentious issues crystallized around a single sporting event. China is bedeviled by internal problems-human-rights violations, media censorship, corruption, pollution, labor abuses and lack of due process, to name a ...

... and COFFEE...tastes like I expect! The plane ride over was easier than I thought...they kept us in food and movies. I slept about 3 hours. When we arrived we went for dinner and then to our hotel. I slept from 9:30 to about 2:21:) and that was it. Made it through yesterday, though, and slept better last night. Yesterday we listened to a presentation by a deputy secretary of the China Ministry of Education. Then we ...

Well, we reached the end of our China journey. And what a journey. Happy to leave behind the squat toilets and miles of red tape (not to mention little red books!). We even needed our passports to use internet cafes. We started out our Beijing experience with a tour of Tiananmen Square, under the watchful gaze of Mao himself and a host of policemen and security folk ...

... tour to Summer Palace, where the Emperors went to escape the heat of the city in Summer. Peking Roast Duck dinner. After dinner, Acrobatic Show (19:15-20:30). Transfer back to your hotel. Overnight in Beijing. Day 03 Beijing (B L D) Breakfast in hotel. Morning tour to Great Wall at Badaling, the best preserved part of the Great Wall which ...

... through gateway to Tibet, with stupa on hill side housing bones of Lama. Having to drink three litres of water a day due to high altitude. Arrived in Xiahe/Labrang and joined in evening kora of monastry. Went to Gesar Restaurant serving chips like Krishnas mum makes, Karen had to leave as felt sick.