Longtan Kangcheng Hotel Beijing

... the Wall was easy, but some of the sections were quite steep and we needed both hands for balance as we climbed up or down to the guard towers which were situated about every 500 metres or so along the Wall. The areas close to Jinshanling and Simatai were completely restored, but the middle 8km of the Wall were unrestored and still in their natural condition. It was beyond amazing and we didn't want it to end. I hope that one day we can go back again. When I was in ...

... meaning of the side next to match the shape, a lot of new words came into being. Example: the character "爸" is made up of phonetic character "巴" and meaning character "父"；"芭 " is a combination of the word "巴" and "++" with a form and so on so forth. According to statistics, Pictophonetic Characters account for about 90% of Chinese characters. The ...

... great time in Beijing. I guess you just have to be a wise traveller so you will not fall prey to tourists scams and you'll know what to do and what to avoid.

Will I go back? Of course! but only when there are less tourists around...so...with a billion Chinese, that would mean never?..hopefully not!..


May 14, 2009

Checked out around 10 am and took the airport shuttle. Since we checked in online last night, we had a breeze claiming our boarding pass. Gia and I ...

... the same thing no matter the language. All I did was smile and stick out my camera and people would take pictures of me in front of whatever I wanted. lol!!! Final stop: Tiananmen Square. Not really a lot to see here, but I had read about Tiananmen Square so it was just cool to see it live. Now I am back in my fabulous hotel and I'm about to get something to ...

... and adventurous. She told us her experience as an Olympic volunteer working at the Softball venue in Fengtai in southwestern suburb of Beijing. We took her to the Wutao's restaurant, The Thousand Island, for a farewell dinner given by Wutao's associate, Mr. Li. We dined in the same private dining room we ate on our first day in China. We felt we were making ...

... all travellers going to mainland China are now required to provide proof of flight and hotel booking prior to their visa application," explained Executive VP of Hogg Robinson Group, James Stevenson. "Companies must now also obtain an official invitation from the Chinese Foreign Ministry on behalf of employees ahead of visa applications being made and explicitly request a multiple entry business visa if required," he ...

... function. Now it is China's largest tourist attraction and it is the only man-made object that can be seen from space. Chairman Mao wrote a poem about the Great Wall - "The one who has never been to the Great Wall; you are not a hero." So we were all Super Heros as we traversed the Great Wall in blowing, cold, snow! We ate dinner at the Chinese Acrobat Show. Those acrobats were amazing as they jump through hoops, literally. And oh their flexibility and strength were ...

... time and visitors and more sections yet that are not accessible, only mounds of dirt and rock. In the morning we went to one of the older sections worn by time. Larry Mattingly and I at the Great Wall of China! There are many watchtowers along the way and temples and living quarters for the armies that protected the different sections. Photos Copyright 2008 Jackie Whedbee

... school's "gym" (a tiny room with ping pong tables and rusty weights). We basically just looked and copied the teacher. It was pretty cool, hard but fun. Then the teacher showed us a few of his more advanced moves, and basically my advice to you all, is never get in a fight with this guy or sneak up on him. As beautiful as Kong Fu looks it can really knock someone out. The teacher was showing us how our simple move was ...

... luch breaks, and I just loooove these potatoes. I have also become strangely addicted to ginger candy, as I now crave for a bit of spice in my food. I cannot seem to find low fat milk, and i found it very strange in the beginning that they DRINK yogurt, instead of eating it. Beijing nightlife: Well..THAT i didnt expect. It is mad out here. Clubs/bars/live bands...everything you might want, they've got it. Something opens up every other week ...