Persimmon Court At Mutianyu Great Wall Beijing

... foreigners here and I said well I am American sorry...ends up he thought I was Turkish!!! Just like we think most Asians look the same they think most Europeans look the same haha.
At this park I also learned that when potty training an chinese toddler it is acceptable to adorn them in an outfit which is a shirt and pants, but with the entire bottom cut out -> not even a flap! Sort of ...

... back to the hotel we washed up and kept the American tradition alive and went to McD's just because we can. We then got full body massages that were epically appropriate and needed beyond anything else. It was terribly awkward because, well, every massage I've seen or heard about you lay on one of those tables with the hole for your head. Being in China we're already at the mercy of the language barrier so we are led into rooms...but there's a bed, TV, etc. It was just ...

... to sleep there that night because it had everything I'd need. The mall was pretty nice as well but we didn't do much shopping. We went to dinner after the grocery store (see above: "food tour").

This was all about the food we've eaten, that isn't Chinese/Taiwanese, because I felt it deserved its own entry. I'm writing another entry immediately after this to talk about stuff we've actually, you know, done that doesn't involve chewing. So skip on over to that one now...

... tulee kilometria kohti jotain vahaisia yuaneja. Siis 10 yuania on euro, ja eilinen kyytini todella kauas hostellilta maksoi 26 yuania, eli 2,6 euroa. Matkaa oli 6-8 kilometria. Taalla voi siis koyha suomalainenkin tuntea joskus olevansa rikas. Tanaan taas oli paljon mielenkiintoisempi retki naista Pekingin suurista nahtavyyksista, eli kiinanmuuri. Menimme talle mahtavalle rakennelmalle hostellin jarjesteman retken puitteissa. Valitsin taman, koska he kehuivat vievansa ...

... back out". "No don't do that - just go inside I'll wait for you here". "I can't go inside if you're out here - did you check your pants pockets?" The guard watched us go through this whole Abbott and Costello routine for 2 minutes before even he started suggesting that we just both go in - "the game was well underway already". We went through the security checks and on the way out the ticket taker guard told us this was his last day working for the Olympics. He wanted to ...

... which was pretty good, and each piece is vacuum sealed. We keep thinking we could tip people with this. It's also amusing that the whole crew are either Austrians (the climber/ riggers) or German (camera operators) and everything on the walkie talkies are in German. I can't begin to keep up with them, so they talk to me in English when something important comes up. Oh, and they have sandbag ...

Week three! These past two weeks have seemed simultaneously longer and shorter than they really have been. The intoxicated dreaming of a Beijing existence I suppose. Well I won't bore everyone with a descriptive blog today but rather delve into some lessons that I have learned and hopefully in doing so, offend someone. First, Beijing smells like someone built a gas station in a toilet, in a rose garden. There is a very distinct smell that ...

... age way better than Westerners. Made the exciting discovering of a supermarket with NZ imported food, then retreated to Starbucks. Never been to Starbucks as much as I have in China -its not just that its the only place to find coffee but there's also the comfort of English speaking staff. The afternoon found us in a delightful alleyway of art galleries and jewellery shops, then back to the train station to return to Changzhou. Mum and Dad spent 3 days with us -hung out with us ...

... not allowed to use the USB drivers on the computer. After the internet, we walked back to Mr. Pizza, where we had intended on eating dinner. It was a lovely dinner. They even played the 'I feel it in my fingers' song from Love Actually (Jenny and Beth - it made me think of you). Then we came back to the hostel and journalled until bed time. We are both still dreadfully behind. Exhausted from the day in the sun, we probably went to be fairly early.

... sell very weird food...scorpions, bugs, starfish, and some normal stuff as well. Meghan got a stuffed wrap thing that was really good and I got some veggie dumplings that were not so good. We then walked down Wangfujing shopping street where I had some Hagen-Daas!!! It was sooo yummy! Having had such a busy day, we went back to the hostel to check our room situation. We did have rooms in the cheaper dorm, so we moved all of our ...