Ming Yuan Hotel Beijing

... in Beijing with still quite an amount of cars, my cousin said it's actually not too bad! It was 79RMB for the ride (which in comparison to NZ, it's really cheap). We (my friend, my cousin and myself) waited outside our apartment door for a good 50-60 minutes before the landlord and our other friend arrived. I think this is the extreme of being lucky and avoided traffic, and being unlucky and got stuck in traffic. Lol.

Our ...

... br>5. "I'm from South China"
One thing I am quite proud of is hiding my puedo-authentic Chinese. A high percentage are now guessing Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Singapore. I bet if I start using the slangs they will be even more confused, haha.

4. Not just a tourist...
I am just starting to not feel like a tourist here. I am not fumbling with which bills to pay with and what denominations certain coins are, etc. Each week, I am ...

Hey there! So this week was another busy one--more class and studying to do than before, but all things academic are going pretty well. Spending the afternoon/evening catching up today, and getting over some pretty insistent stomach sickness that I've had since Thursday. It's made it a little harder to get out and about, although we still did plenty of that this week.

Thursday we went as a class to the Beijing Capital Museum ...

People often think of China as a place of firm communist principles, no religion and strict government control. Well, the truth is that rather than Commies, the folk here are true capitalists, greed is the new religion, and the government exerts little control in people's lives. And Chinese have strong faith in the economy: The majority of Chinese people are still confident of the country's development prospect in spite of the global economic downturn, a survey by ...

... and dissidents. "It is partly to prevent terrorism but even more of the public security power is being used to silence political dissent and keep domestic discontent away from the Games," Beijing-based dissident writer Liu Xiaobo told AFP. "We have never seen such security here before." The government has repeatedly pointed to what it calls a threat from militants in its restive Muslim western region of Xinjiang, a claim backed by some anti-terror experts. "Beijing faces ...

On our final day in Beijing we loaded up the bus with our assorted suitcases and carry on bags, most of us knowing that we were already over the allotted weight limit for our flight to Jilin later in the day. The day is drizzly and overcast and doesn't bode well for the views from the Great Wall, our first stop. On our way, we pass the sight of the future Disneyland, Beijing and the closer we ...

... away is the key as the price drops like hell but doing so is hard when the store-holder is grabbing your arm and demanding you come back. We even used an escalator to escape at one point! We did well but we did walk from 4 stalls (having been through at least 10 minutes angry haggling at each) and, as I say, by the end we were absolutely knackered and buckled for an extra 5Y when we realised it was only 30p. They had started at 8,500Y so ...

3rd November. The flight from Singapore to Beijing was fine, other than having to wake up at 4:30 to leave!! Singapore airport is wonderful!! Free internet everywhere, comfy seats, chillout areas, gardens and relaxation chair for free!! Really impressive and I nice way to wait for a flight. Didn't quite have enough time for a long massage though which was very disappointing!! Arriving in Beijing was cool, everyone had told me it would be smoggy and I wouldn ...

... small, clothes ranged from kinda cool to downright garish, but we did get lots of great tea and misc tea accessories. Shopping on, we went to Yue Shou Clothing Market nearby and stocked up on clothes, then finally to the Ya Shou Market where we continued the shoe and bag hunt with slightly more success. On Sunday I went with Jo and Quentin to the Capital Museum which is quite an impressive building, all modern and slanty. I asked Q to take a "proof I am ...

... when we arrived on the wall in the morning, the sky was clear (no smog), the morning mist hung around the hills and you could just make out the wall snaking off in both directions following the line of the tops of the hills with a garrison ...