KunTai Royal Hotel Beijing

... Its purpose was to keep China unified. The Great Wall is a symbol of ancient Chinese civilization.

There are various entrances to the wall: Badaling is 44 miles northwest of Beijing; Mutianyu is 56 miles north of Beijing, Huangpu Cheng is 37 miles north of Beijing, and Sarmatia is 68 miles northeast of Beijing.

We entered on the Badaling side of the wall. The day was quite cold and windy so the ...

... have the kinda heavy sensation at times in my chest, but I have some pills left. Seriously considering seeing a doctor when I get back as well to test my lungcapacity or the like. Anyway, come Friday and the wenhua exam, our teacher hands us a form in Chinese saying that the uni is offering the flu-vaccine to all students. For free. Apparently, there had been some deaths at another uni, and they went all panicky. Saturday, way too hungover after a ...

... in my halting Chinese ("My room has no o'clock...I mean electricity. Thankyousorry.") and practicing getting over my embarassment and getting out there. We'll see what comes of it; my hope is to get past the shiny novelty everything has right now, and to start understanding what I'm seeing and experiencing. Learning is the plan. And eating lots and lots of jiaozi. Gotta have priorities.

... as she spoke no English). We both got a noodle-based dish each, with all kinds of stuff in that we couldn't put a name to. Mine had quail eggs in it, shitake mushrooms, seafood parcels, coriander, shrimp things etc and she added curry, spices etc. We got a large bottle of beer between us and then were shown to this nursery size table and chairs where we could drink while she cooked it. The whole shop was no bigger than the size of a bedroom at home and ...

City The Forbidden City Like China itself, the Imperial Palace in Beijing has come a long way in 600 years. Once the home of Emperors of one of the oldest civilizations on Earth, it now houses a Starbucks. Fortunately, alongside the encroaching commercial enterprises, the terrible grandeur of those bygone empires has been preserved within its massive walls. The more than 800 buildings ...

... these successive efforts at self-reinvention have cast the Chinese adrift, with an uncertain sense of cultural and political direction. We tend to forget this when focusing on how efficient the regime in Beijing is at building infrastructure, or managing the economy. Take the reaction to the anti-Beijing protests this spring in Tibet, and later around the world as the Olympic torch made its way to China. Old-fashioned police controls were tightened and rhetoric that harked back to Mao ...

... my travel companions for the day, and lunch was pretty good. I liked the dumplings and the beer, but not the fish head. :) This stop also had a cloisonne factory, where I was of course in heaven, and beautiful silks. I wish I could have seen where they apply the color to the vessels once the wires are applied, but I can understand why that area wouldn't be public. It's a delicate process. Oh, and I'm such a sucker, I couldn't ...

... la voz. Susana me hizo un gesto indicándome que no lo volviera a repetir la frase para que ni Jane ni Javier se percataran de ese pequeño detalle. Yo mire a las caras de Javier y Jane para ver su reacción. Jane fue la primera en hacer una mueca para después decir con desagrado.- Todo es perro. Yo no quiero comer perro. – Javier también pareció darse cuenta en ese instante, pero el no dijo nada. Yo comencé a reírme y Susana también. Percibí las intenciones de todos de ...

... years, and Shanghai Museum, a large museum of ancient Chinese art. Dinner in local restaurant. After dinner, transfer back to your hotel. Overnight in Shanghai. Day 06 Shanghai (B L D) Breakfast in hotel. Morning transfer to Zhujiajiao Water Town, a typical ancient water town in the south of the Yangtze River (one hour of driving from ...

... for renovations when I was there. Seeing Tiananmen inevitably brought up memories of the massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators here in the late 80s. It was a bit weird seeing the place in person. Tons of cops (uniformed and plain-clothed) are all around the Square. If you stop moving in certain areas, cops with loudspeakers yell at you...yeah they were annoying! I'm not sure if all the police were for tourist protection or to squash any would-be ...