The First Great Wall International Conference Center Beijing

... br>pollution. It is a city of 10 million residents.

The traffic is chaotic and traffic
lights appear to only be a suggestion. I even saw a bike rider down
from being hit by a car. This didn't seem to phase people or the
traffic so I suspect it happens with some regularly. This was
confirmed by our guide. However, there was a police man assisting
traffic around the scene...but no ambulance...or at least not while I
was there ...

... in the knowledge that I was a "real man" today.

Peking Duck is NICE. Filling, but nice. They gave us a plate with the "nicest" part of the duck first, which was just oily, crackly skin that I didn't like much and tried to decline, but was obliged to eat as the guest of honour. Then you got a few tiny slices of duck, some light, small pancakes and little trays with spring onion, cucumber, sauce, garlic and sugar, and you wonder how on earth this is supposed ...

... br>
Yongdi Men is the middle of the South rampart. It was the signal building and was recently rebuilt.

After our tour of the gate and our intensive audio guide we walked to Dazhalan and Liulichang Hutongs (alleys). Hutongs run East to West and are created as the space between courtyard walls. It is now an area that has lots of shops with clothing, shoes, tea and souvenirs.

We toured about and I tried on some orange shoes (for the ball ...

... more and more Chinese want to express their own views about local and international events through the Internet, Gao said. The Internet Society of China, devoted to tracking development of the Internet in China, said the country recorded its first blog in August 2002. Now there are more than 100 million blogs. The society is a non-government institution sponsored by 70 organs, including Internet service providers, network access carriers and ...

After a rain storm yesterday, today is a beautiful day with cool breeze AND blue sky! This is the third blue-sky day we have had since we came to China, with the two previous days on the day when we were leaving for the Great Wall and Inner Mongolia and the day when we were arriving in Hangzhou. Although the temperature is still high, the humidity is very low. You don't feel sweaty ...

Making up for lost time on the blogging front. When you pay 18 RMB for coffee in order to use the free wi-fi, you want to make the most of it! Many other things are going on besides teaching although teaching has definitely taken up a large chunk of my time and energy. Adam and I moved from the apartment with no electricity to another place. The company we work for is in a transition period with their participants because some just left and new ones ...

Being the "seasoned travellers" we are we set off well equipped with walking poles and sustenance for what we were expecting to do, trek the approximately 10 or 11 km along the wall from Jinshanling to Simitai which would take us about 4 hours to walk. We knew that there would be stairs all along the wall but did not realise how hard it would be for me with my fairly useless level of depth perception. In the space of about the first ...

... it was the last time I ever saw my stuff again!! Eventually, an hour later, another driver tunred up! Replacing the disguised one and after the 4 hours drive I was dropped off on the outskirts of Lhasa. I cycled south via the airport and continued east. Mean while, my friend was at EBC ( everest base camp) and sent me these pics!

... that were beleived to be prehsitoric sex implaments and pottery with dirty pictures on it. The train ride and the museums took around 10 minutes in total to complete. Not build (although that is belivable) but to view and enjoy. Actually if you go theres no better way to cross the river. The Jinamao tower was a much more refined and enjoyable place that did take more than 10 minutes to build. Ther so proud of it they are building another right ...

... how cold China was going to be at this time of year, I ended up having to buy myself a fleece, it is all good preparation for the long winter ahead I guess burghhh. Beijing was not nearly half as busy and hectic as we had anticipated, it seemed much calmer then most Asian capitals we have been to. The traffic wasn't particularly heavy, although we still found the pollution tightened our lungs. People that aren't zooming around in cars like maniacs in Beijing, still ride push bikes or ...