Scitech Beijing

... to fall on deaf ears, this could be because of the scarf I had wound around the majority of my face, or simply the beginning of my sink or swim cycling crash course.

In no time my guide and I caught up with the rest of the group at a stop light, and in half that time I was left alone…

Solo. On the streets of Beijing, sans map, sans phone contacts, and having taken so many turns (probably 3) as to be helpless on finding my way back to the store- plus ...

... and due to my grogginess, I'm truly disturbed by the unexpected form of locomotion. But I recover, and Dennis and I follow his lead, quickly learning the challenges of reverse ambulation.

That night, we check out a Whole Foods knockoff store called April Gourmet, located near the Sanlitun embassy area. Once inside, we're teleported back to West Los Angeles...or at least, it looked like it: there ...

... farmers would sit in a corner, with a few dirty cans of beer trying to sell them for 4 or 5 Yuan, and Wade, Birnie and I were happy to oblige. We spent the better part of the day drinking beers, laughing, climbing on walls and taking unreal pictures of the entire event. See all of the pics within this entry. It truly was spectacular.
As we arrived into Simitai, wade and jimilla decided to hike down to the entrance while Mr. Birnie and myself opted for the quicker ...

... who looked like they'd been hijacked from a Chinese sitcom. Something was wrong. It seemed that a questionable fluid had been detected in someone's carry-on (why this was detected now, after we had passed through security, was not made clear, but it fit with the general sense of confusion and ineptitude). There was much excited chatter, and soon voices were raised as a quarrel escalated between the security officers and the guides. Our guide seemed particularly disgusted that a minor ...

... of garment, toy or furniture factories. "The introduction of such restrictions without warning creates serious problems for companies operating in China," the European Chamber of Commerce in China said in a written statement. At Bravo Tours China in Shanghai, managers plan to use the lull for staff training, Lin said, "and preparing for the business comeback after the Olympics, hopefully." http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/07/ 29/ap5265994.html

Travel on Friday included a trip to Beijing Middle School No. 8. We arrived in time for morning exercises. Over one thousand students were lined up on the field and performed calisthenics with a student leader to the count of piped in music. We all smiled as we saw the faces of students so much like our own: the enthusiastic performers and the half-hearted ones. The students were so friendly to us as the passed us into ...

... ourselves in we were treated to the show, a busty american vampire appeared on screen enticing us to follow into the house of horrors; the chairs stirred into action and we were rocked and rolled. Unfortunately the chair and the screen were not dubbed particularly effectively and hence the movements were out of synch. Anyway after the dull ming tombs, where Marieke pursuaded a group of Chinese soldier to pose with us we finally arrived at the wall. Trekked up ...

... after a bit of bartering they re-opened the club just for us, a very surreal experience to see 30 people take over the bar and dance-floor of this club! Again a big thanks must be passed to the great people who i met whilst in Beijing. Owen, Mike, Meron, Steve, Ian and Ric*********gst others were all great people whom I hope to see at some point either on my travels or once I have returned home! Sadly all good things must come to an end, next stop for me Thailand!

... Versace, Miu Miu, Harvey Nichol etc. But it wasn't until we exited onto Queen Street that the card came out. Yes , we finally found the H & M store. Huge square footage, throngs of people, a live dj playing head pounding music all for your shopping pleasure. The girls found a few cute things and we were on our way. We made our way to the west side of central district, an older, more traditional area called Sheung Wan. We walked through the many streets and ...

Continued from ; Mongolia - a fleeting glimpse 23rd February 2004 The changing of the wheel assemblies ( the bogies ) is like a formula one pit stop. The Chinese railway system operates on a narrower gauge than the Russian and Mongolian one. So the entire train gets hoisted up in the air and new bogies some zipping in on cables and re-attached to the undercarriage by high performing operatives. I remember once reading one of Chairman ...