Ruiji Guesthouse Beijing

... longer haha. Afterwards we just sat on the dunes for a while watching people and talking. Finally we decided to head back. There were two ways you could go, one was the gondola the whole way, and one was sliding down a steep dune on a slide (10 kuai) I didn't think the sliding looked too exciting so I offered to take pictures for my friends who wanted to. I ran down the hill a little - it was actually a lot of fun, just like skiing!!! Then I stopped and took the ...

... a thing before?" "No. This is the first time." Then she was all like: "Many kids in China wear this," pointing out obvious advantages to this kind of fashion detail. Well, I am sure there were many. After all, I had read about it. But I'd never seen it with my own eyes before, so it was most certainly worth documenting. And so, following bare-ass toddlers, incomprehensible provincial visitors and an occasional local character, we arrived at the outer fence of the Great Hall of the ...

... went to the Zoo we went to the Zoo market. It is basically a giant clothing market. I bought a new coat cause i've wanted one since my last trip to China. I also bought some new pajamas sadly he pj's don't really fit though. It ok they fit enough to be worn once every couple weeks when i need to wash the jammies i brought with me. After we finished shopping we came back to Beiwai and chilled until Steph went out with her friends for the night.

... office and asked if they had any spare seats left to avoid having to stand for the entire journey. I was super lucky because someone had just returned a their ticket, so I got a nice 2nd class bed (they call them Hard Sleepers here). Turned out not to be hard at all but rather comfortable, they even provide sheets, pillows and blankets, so when the lights were switched off at 11pm sharp, I had a good night's sleep to the soothing sound of the train rattling over the tracks. Caro x

... confused at the road signs, then looking at us as if we knew something then more muttering. We were not too worried but it was annoying that she was clearly driving slower than before. We were on the highway and she took the exit to the right but then stopped abruptly. She stopped in a lane on the motorway. This was about 2 metres ahead of where the roads split into two. She then put the car in reverse gear. I was freaking out, there were cars ...

... WITH NAME IN ENGLISH & CHINESE EXAMPLE OF SHOE KNOCK-OFFS LEAVING THE SILK MARKET Later, we passed by the Hotel Sheraton to see the hotel in which Jose had stayed at the last time he was in Beijing for work - very nice hotel. Right next to it is the Hard Rock Restaurant, so we ...

... we finally reach the top we are greeted by a round of applause...making me feel I have actually achieved something. The views are amazing, the wall rising and falling over the hills fading off into the distance, sharp mountains on the left complete the scene. When we reach the bottom Andrew is that sweaty he had to buy a new t-shirt stating 'I have just climbed the Great Wall of China' Our tour tries to divert us to a chinese medical centre where they will gladly ...

... I walked quickly, but no so fast that I would look like a nervous, lost tourist, and made my way there. It was seriously a ten-minute walk through a residential neighborhood, so nothing major, but it really felt good and reassured me that yes, I can travel on my own. I'd gotten so used to having SAS do everything for me for the most part that I didn't know if I'd be able to do it any other way. But, hey, I can. I went into the café and bought some time, which was ...

... people, and I can easily see how they are leading the world in a lot of economic factors. What I guess I was not expecting was for it all to be coexsisting with such low wualities of life for so many people. Maybe in the coutryside at least, but not right there in front of me. It all makes me wonder how China plans to cover or gloss over all of this when the Olympics are there because there were some things that I would like to think the international community would not watch quietly.

... out most nights with people I met in the hostel, but it was still dirt cheap. I had the famous Peking Duck a couple of times! It's way different to back home, sliced duck and the usual pancakes, but it comes with soup made from some of the bones, and the rest of the duck bits are deep fried, including the whole head! I wasn't brave enough to eat the head, but I did each scorpion at the night market! It looked pretty menacing but after the initial crunch ...