Jinjiang Hotel Qian'an

... much needed shopping at the local, underground department store. I got myself a coat, pair of pants and a shirt and a new, small suitcase for these little trips that don't need my massive fly cases I came to China with. I got my gal one of the same and a sweat-coat with the big buttons. Since we spent above a certain amount of money we got a rice-cooker for free (China is strange), I won't fight it since I need one, but it was really a pain to carry back.

The day of the 4th and 5th we took a long distance bus to the nearby prefecture-level city of Chengde. Chengde is well knows as the Summer Resort during the dynasties where the emperors would travel to escape the heat. Much of the mountain city is taken up by 'Bishushanzhuang', aka the Summer Resort. And, of course, this was our highest order to see.

The summer resort itself is basically a ...

... useful route for transporting troops across such mountainous terrain. Whatever its historical successes or failures, today it is an awe-inspiring sight, perched on high and rising up and down slopesfor miles, off into the distant horizon.



Whole sections of it have crumbled in the centuries since it was re-fortified during the 1600s Ming Dynasty, but the Chinese authorities are keen to promote it for tourism ...

... of the 'rural China' towns as we passed through. Unfortunately, they were with my cell phone camera since my camera didn't have new batteries yet and so they turned out quite poorly.
The county level town of Xiabancheng (aka Chengde County), is built much like Jinghai. By that I mean, it's a small town with relatively few people yet it is very compacted and so the town center is built up ...

... of Jixian, we stopped to have a big Chinese lunch with family of our driver. As usual, the topic usually revolved around me and my few bits of Hanyu I can actually manage to say. It's often a curse to be the center of attention, and as much as I enjoy being in an exotic foreign location, I really don't enjoy being an exotic foreign thing to everyone I meet. Regardless, the lunch was delicious (big pot in the middle of the concave table with boiling fish ...

On Saturday morning I left early for Qinhuangdao. Next to this town is Shanhaiguan, an old fortress and the place where the great wall finishs or starts (depending) inside the yellow see. Unfortunately my weatherforecast provider has given wrong information. It was a rainy day. It was interesting to see the beauty contest of the make up artists in the rain, but the girls seemed not to be very happy. Generally to say Shanhaiguan was ...

Coming from Beijing to Chenge was like a breath of fresh air. I can understand why the Qing Emperor decided to have Chengde as their retreat, the montain resort away from the hectic Beijing. I planned to have Chengde as a day trip, which was not only possible, but I could miss the charming and the relax attitude of the local. Chengde is well known for the Mountain Resort (Bishu Sanzhuang) and its 8 outlaying temples.

The train left Beijing ...

Randonnee sur la muraille, en un mot : fabuleux !!! Comme on voulait pas prendre un Tour Operator histoire de payer moins cher, on a fait bus + taxi (negociations obligees, tres dur quand on s'est leve a 5h du mat' !!), mais finalement ben ca nous est revenu au prix que proposait l'auberge .... aucun regret, on etait content d'y etre arrive par nous meme !! 4h de marche sur la muraille a peine restauree, des ...

... months before departure). However, to my surprise very few of us spoke any Mandarin. There were maybe ten people who could speak as much or more than I. Whether or not this is a good thing is ambiguous. It meant I wouldn't be the worst off, but also we'd be having a more difficult time navigating a city that spoke very little English. I shared a meal with four other volunteers while waiting for our plane to board. We indulged ourselves ...

Beijing....is huge and under construction and very humid. The roadways are packed with crazy drivers, the subway is old and hot, and buses/taxis move slowly....We have no idea how they will cope with the Olympics. We did stay in a very nice traditional courtyard home/guesthouse and enjoyed some great meals(we found a fresh all-u-can-eat salad/fruit bar...we got our $$ worth)...lots of shopping, but we did not partake.