Zhongyu Century Grand Beijing

This would probably be a fascinating psychological experiment:
1. Take a foreign-born Chinese person
2. Move him/her to China
3. Have him/her make friends
a. With locals
b. With other foreigners

Oh wait... this is my life, haha.

Well, the past weekend, I spend time with some coworkers (locals) and my neighbors (Europeans). It was really interesting for me to see the difference and the reactions of other Chinese ...

... the gas station. I feel like one of those sales persons standing in a busy street trying to get someone to buy some miracle lotion. I don't even know how to begin asking people, they usually just gives me a weird look that says "whatever you're trying to sell me I'm not buying it"

One of the station attendants tries to help us by pointing out possible vehicles going our direction. About half an hour later Liu Chang got attention ...

... were empty just for a few stores, the look was just great.

The same has happens with the hostel's street the traditional buildings had been remodeled and the view was also wonderful. The Hostel was still the same.....hehehe....this trip was going to be re-visiting Beijing.

After we had let everything set at the hostel and almost at evening we went to the Silk Market, as the majority of the group wanted to do some shopping.

The Trip was just at the middle.

... across the street and deposited me at a bus stop. All good. 668 went back to the City. I have no sense of direction. I get lost in phone booths and knew this would be a huge problem for me traveling alone. Yup. Off the bus, into the subway ( I do subway well), then above ground, all dark and lost. Another long adventure involving three 20 somethings and a very expensive Tea Ceremony scam - later and I was still ...

... trek was long and difficult (manly cos it was so hot, again) but after a few hours we reach the end part, where there was a zip line down from the wall to a river. There a boat took us to a small restaurant for lunch. That evening we went to a Famous duck restaurant and ate Peking Duck in Peking (it was delicious and quite cheap too). Day 4 - A shorted day today, we started with booking our train to Tianjin (which took all of 2 minutes). We then wondered ...

... Then the pasta makers *** After lunch, its on we go to the Forbidden City. I am amazed as we walk toward the entrance. We pass scenes both grand and common, all mixed together. Side streets with mom and pop shops lined up near the entrance to the Imperial Gardens... Street vendors and a phone kiosk, (man it looks short) on the way to the moat surrounding the entrance to the Forbidden City. Once at the gate, I pull out my ...

... of food, and it's hard to tell how much you've eaten.  Anyway, none of us feel full at the end of any meal-even after they've brought out the mifan (rice) that is supposed to fill you up in case you haven't eaten enough by this point.  Ah well... it's still quite delicious :) SATURDAY - Forbidden City and Beihai Park Met at 9:00 am again today.  I still woke up at 6:00 am, and that was nice because it gave me some time to reflect on my experiences here as well as catch up on ...

... He has spent a number of weeks travelling around China already and this is his last stop. Yangzi and some of her friends (some of whom speak English) also join us. Oranges are placed on the tables and the tea never ceases to flow as we sit and chat. Those not on holiday have work the next day leaving myself, Rich and Tony. It is getting very late and conscious that there are other guests who we don't want to disturb we eventually retire to our rooms.

... The other down-side of this place are the many guides who seem to be constantly fighting for acoustic space, armed with more megaphones and yelling in them constantly. And they actually have direct rows with each other, if one has his/her group to close to the other. But aside of this, I was also able to take some really nice pictures and films. After this, thing started getting downward when my friend started questioning the guide's way of ...

... that oysters can make more than one pearl at a time. Lyndsay's donor mollusc currently had at least five pearls on the go. After a while the salespersons persistence paid off, I bought Lyndsay a pearl necklace, and left. Our last stop of the day after lunch was the Summer Palace, the largest palace in Beijing. In fact, it was so large that we spent our entire fourth day at the palace, so I'll let you read about it in the next entry!