Railway Ministry Training Center Beijing

... supplies bought our tickets before they stop selling them at 5. We went to the most touristy part of the wall called Badarling. It has been restored, so large parts are not the original wall, but considering we plan on sleeping there - I am greatful for the most sturdy smooth bricks! We walked with the crowds for an hour or so being stopped every 5 minutes by Chinese tourists wanting a picture with the white person! One lady dragged her painfully shy little boy up to my side ...

... asteroid has only once been seen through the telescope. That was by a Turkish astronomer, in 1909. On making his discovery, the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said. Grown-ups are like that... Fortunately, however, for the reputation of Asteroid B-612, a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under ...

... maybe?)! It was explained to me that these were older tourists from southern provinces of China and certainly not the new generation of Chinese. Well whatever but having people spitting all over the place in public is gross to me. The Fobidden City was spectacular. It is presently undergoing a major renovation project in which all buildings are being repainted and the details are amazing. Thousands and thousands of people were visiting this ...

... for our first proper look at the Wall. WOW!!!!! It snakes over the mountains in both directions, until it disappears in the mists (sorry smog, which was slowly building up again) on the mountains way in the distance. This is a fantastic sight. I've always admired the Romans and did go (only recently) to see the Roman Wall in the UK but the sight of this makes Hadrian look like he was playing with Lego bricks! We set off along the Wall, with watchtowers at every 100 (?) metres. As ...

... another guest said he didn't either since his wife is Muslim. So they ordered, surprisingly, a number of healthy vegetable dishes and a roast fish dish that is delicious. And, of course, beer. Adam boasted that I could drink more beer than he, so I was challenged to keep pace and drink a bottle of beer during each new round with the men. My secret was to fill up my stomach on a lot of food and then graciously share all my beer with Adam and the man ...

... and make the apologies in small print in the next issue more on (moron?) the nails later Well I am celebrating it all here. I have spent Christmas and New Year here. There are still pictures of santa claus and random Christmas trees everywhere even on CNY eve the Vietnamese restaurant thought good atmospheric music for expats was Christmas carols. PEOPLE it was 6 weeks ago!!! I have spent my 32nd birthday here. (I gave myself the gift of getting plastic ...

... break after my tough classes this
week.  



I'm off to go review some Chinese before I head out for some drinks
with some people for my friends birthday.  We are going to an area
called Sanlitun, a place Westerners and international students flock to
at night.

It wont be too late of a night because I have to wake up early to meet
my Chinese tudor.  The program graciously provides us with free
tutors to meet with us, one on one, 3 times each ...

... in the world) so it must be super important! It is where the Emperor used to take care of business (kind of like his office). The really funny thing was we had an English audio tour, and it said that some of the Emperors did not care for state business whatsoever. So they would never show up for the courts or do anything of the sort. I guess when you're Emperor, you can pretty much do whatever you want. With the Forbidden City visit complete, we took one look at Tiannamen Square ...

... of highrises greeted us as we drove in from Hong Kong, via Guangzho, in buses and an overnight train: a "Hard sleeper ", but it was OK. A constant stream of food sellers meant that we lacked for nothing.The Hong kong Chinese,maintain that their pollution is due to the Mainland factories ! Arriving in Guilin, early morning, we transfered to our final bus to Yangshuo, which is a small countryside town, designated as a ...

... twitching and i seriously thought I was going to slide down on my face. If I waited another 10 years to do this trip, I wouldn't even have made it past tower 2. word of advice: if you want to see the great wall, go now while you're still young(er). In the afternoon we went to the summer palace. I was tired of pagodas and temples at this point and instead walked right onto the lake. the -13 degree weather paid off, as the lake was completely frozen over ...