Jinxin Hotel Beijing

... stunning Simitai section. Mr. Lee was quite an enjoyable character, and only tried to sell us on one "Chinese culture site," which we declined, fearing another silk factory. The actual conversation went something like:

Lee: You like Chinese culture?

Joe: Yes

Lee: You have camera?

Joe: Yes

Lee: You see camera make. Chinese cultural. I take you, only 500 yuan [about $85, which is a fortune]

Joe and MB (in unison): No.

Beijing, China chmielewskij

I'm just wondering how many people saw that title and went "Oh ****, did he catch the pig?!" No, I did not but I felt like having a title that sums up my feelings on the past five days. I've been stuck in a hotel because the Chinese feel that my "buddy" who decided to get sick on the plane must have infected me with some terrible disease that has the dreadful symptoms of the common cold. Yes, if you sneeze in this place (which I have ...

... Commerce (Washington) 2/04Number of factory jobs that China has lost since 1995: 25,000,000 Alliance Capital Management Corporation (N.Y.C.) 3/04Chance that a resident of China has never heard of AIDS: 1 in 5 Futures Group International (Washington) 3/04Estimated number of doctors in China with experience in treating HIV/AIDS: 100 amfAR (N.Y.C.) 3/04Number of monkeys fed a nine-course meal at last year's Chinese Banquet for Monkeys in Lopburi, Thailand: 3 ...

De Manzhouli, nous avons ensuite pris le train pour Pekin (eh oui encore le train... on arrive a 151h de train pour 9720km, ce qui commence a faire beaucoup...). Arrivee le soir, nous avons pris le metro dans lequel nous avons rencontre une chinoise parlant parfaitement anglais, et travaillant dans l'auberge ou nous allions... nous n'avons eu qu'a la suivre. Le lendemain, lever 7h et direction la colossale ...

... s subway system. Vehicles entering the outskirts of Beijing must go through security checks-resulting in long delays. The post office has temporarily banned the sending of all liquids and some electronics. And if that's not enough, some 300,000 closed-circuit video cameras have been installed around the city's streets to watch people while hidden microphones are in place to pick up the conversations of unsuspecting passers-by. "Our view of what the ...

... stuffed with all kinds of meat and vegetables to pork burgers and fresh coconuts. After some closer inspection I was horrified to see some of the stalls selling grilled seahorses and an assortment of scorpions. Who in their right mind would eat a seahorse, there's not enough meat on it to feed a flea. I heard a saying that some Chinese people would eat anything except the table. Also on offer was snake, grubs, sea urchin, star fish and many other unidentified things ...

... of home despite being 6-thousand miles away. Some might argue that defeats the whole purpose of embarking on a journey like this, but to you nay-sayers I can only say...a Snickers bar in the real time of need can mean the difference between utter despair and ultimate bliss...trust me. So as the 80's new wave darlings, The Waitresses, so eloquently stated, "It's on with the boots and out in the snow, to the lonely all night ...

... like garlic. Tea for drink, and of course white rice. The chicken... totally not quite what I expected. They pretty much steamed up a chicken and chopped it symmetrically... cut it up in smaller pieces and handed it over to me. It was slightly cold... and all of the bones were nice and visible (like the inside of it - the marrow). The skin was all on it too ...

... though and we dug out the phrase book and dived in to enquire as to the whereabouts of the hot water, the dining carriage etc. (we discovered that passengers with seat only tickets were denied access to the veritable luxury of the dining carriage, in case they had to be forcibly extricated from the comparably comfortable seats). Everyone in China who rides on a train has two things. A pot noodle, and a flask of tea leaves which can be repeatedly ...

... tog den tur 51 timer, og så var det ikke luksus som fyldte i toget. Jeg kørte på hard-sleeper, hvilket er den billigste måde at ligge ned på toget, i den øverste køje, som er den dårligste, da der er ret varmt oppe under loftet, især når man kører med et af de grønne toge, som ikke er udstyrret med air-con, men kun med nogle latterligt små fans, som sikkert er dødbringende hvis man kommer for tæt på, da de ligner et mini fyrværkerri om natten... Men på turen fra Yangshuo til ...