Renren Holiday Hotel Beijing

... galloping towards them. runescape gold
"Master Yuan," they shouted. "Did it work?"
"They're coming, they're coming!" he shouted back. "Tell everyone to get ready." The riders turned and galloped off ahead.
A short while later, they spied a huge circular wall rising up out of the desert, at least forty feet in height with only one narrow entrance. Yuan rode through the opening with the herd of animals close behind him. The Twin ...

... mall… where I was happy to just window shop.

On Sunday (07 Jun 09) I rented a bicycle and toured all over central Beijing. I visited the 3 lakes (Xi, Hou and Qian) in the northwest and the amply named Bar Street that overlooks the lakes. There was a man in the park surrounding one of the lakes playing a strange instrument but the music was enchanting. I road past Tian’Anmen Square and the National Grand Theatre and walked through some weird shopping street that ...

... pa seveda ni veljalo za glavne znamenitosti, kjer so gnece kitajskih turistov ter ostalih tujih obiskovalcev nepopisne. Mesto se zdaj diha deloma za olimpijske igre, kljub temu, da je od teh minilo ze kar nekaj casa. Na veliko mestih je se vedno mogoce videti uradne logotipe iger, videti je se vedno mogoce ogromne plakate s slogani iger in se zmeraj prodajajo spominke s to tematiko. Na sreco so ulice, ki so jih takrat zaprli za promet to tudi ...

... The piped music coming from the trees made the place feel a bit like Alton Towers but without the rollercoasters. We'd read about Suzhou Street which was an 'authentic' little shopping street where you had to exchange your money for silver coins. Much like Disneyland infact. 'Suzhou' translates as 'Tat' every store selling the same tacky souveniers, there was even a visitors centre showing this 'authentic' street being constructed with colour photographs ...

... down, which I figure had a 50-50 shot at working. The second match was Russia v. Brazil, which Brazil won handily in 3 games. Not the most exciting when the match ends up so one-sided, but even that couldn't kill my Olympic buzz. After the second match, I went wandering leisurely around in seach of food. I changed some money first, which turned out to be quite an ordeal, but at least the rate was pretty good: 6.78. Amusing how my Lonely Planet book has the exchange ...

... water below you! The week coming up will be filled with more sightseeing, shopping, packing and saying goodbye to both Beijing and the people here. It will be really weird to leave, and I think everyone has mixed feelings about it. It will be great to see people at home who I've missed all year, but it will also be incredibly difficult to leave behind all the fun here and a city that also feels a bit like home. For now, hope all's well at home and see you guys SOON! xox Katie

... of Beijing wearing thermals, 5 top layers, good thick boots and 2 pairs of socks (maybe I said it TOO quietly and was therefore misheard) whilst trying to convince a Chinese lady with a microphone that I didn't want to sing anymore and especially not High on a Hill was a lonely goatherd. (one HAS to draw the line somewhere!) However, there I was on Sunday at the Temple taken there by my lovely friend Sam. If size counts, apparently Heaven is three times the area of the ...

... and I'm sorry but that jus does not sound like a lot of fun and I spent a good five minutes mocking it. I discovered that for the first forty-five minutes it was ridiculous, and all we did was gather our 'chi' and well it was kinda fun but really strange. Then we got the choice to wander around and stay there and learn some more. I for some reason chose to stick around, don't know why but I am actually glad I did, for you see tai chi is actually a martial art ...

... and I think that the uniform trade in Beijing is booming (even the city gardeners dress in cammo!) if I were to be mugged I wouldn't know where to run to first. This particular uniform was in charge of the taxi rank he took my particulars and waved a taxi over who grabbed my pack so quickly you would think there were snipers on the roof and motioned me into the car. Uniform man took more details from the driver (obviously going for the most pointless ...

... attractions have raised their prices in anticipation of the tourist boom in 2008. The number of tourists and foreigners in general in Beijing seems to have quadrupled, crowding the western style oases that have become even more numberous. Little things make the city a lot less affordable to the college student/English teacher/wandering expat looking for a place to hang out for awhile. Maybe by 2008 the regular Beijing expats will all get fed up with the tourist invasion ...