Super 8 (Beijing Shijingshan Jiu Jiu Yuan)

... over the sounding harp of Iceland swept the swan's redbeak; on Shakspeare's shoulder he sat in the guise of Odin's raven,and whispered in the poet's ear "Immortality!" and at the minstrels'feast he fluttered through the halls of the Wartburg.
The Phoenix bird, dost thou not know him? He sang to thee theMarseillaise, and thou kissedst the pen that fell from his wing; hecame in the radiance of Paradise, and perchance thou didst turn awayfrom ...

... first two months in China?  Never mind Hong Kong, never mind Taiwan, this here be China.  Mmm.  Free meals.  The phone of ridiculous battery life.  The Great Firewall.  Registering with the Police.  The blog at mairs.net has a blow by blow.  Lost at the same location has what I forgot.  Guess this'll be the remaining details ...

... in detail. The central inner temple displays 2 statues of Guru Rinpoche (GR) (1 of the most important Tibetan Buddhist saints), Jampa (Future Buddha), 1,000-armed Chenresig & 2 more Jampas. Around the edge are many walk-in chapels, which Tibetans will visit in a clockwise direction, rubbing the doorways and chain-mail curtains, bow their heads to touch the statues, place melted & solid yak butter into large wicker vats and smaller ...

... the middle one with its elaborate stone carvings fenced off and off bounds to tourists, with numerous bronze incense burners, then also a pair of bronze cranes and a pair of tortoises suggesting longevity, as well as myriads of stone dragon heads which are just elaborately carved drainage outlets, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is quite a sight to see. Probably everyone knew that, so the tourists flocked around it, taking photos, elbowing for the photo space and basically and inevitably ...

Interesting survey results just out, sponsored by that everywhere company Visa (though try using your credit card in most places in China and you will get blank stares or a waiter will mistake it for your business card) Travellers to China Wish to Broaden Their Experiences Thursday, August 28, 2008 Place your ad hereChina's tier two and three cities are attracting interest among potential travellers from the Asia Pacific Region, according to a Visa survey on interest in the ...

... explosive substances into the airport will face severe punishment, according to the spokesman. Passengers, people who come to greet or see the passengers off as well as those who work at the airport will all have to undergo security checks if they are to enter the airport, he added. The spokesman said it is yet to be decided when the temporary rule will end. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008 -07/18/content_6859058.htm

A harsh reality this past Saturday... My friend Patrick and I are doing a research project on women in China. Part of it involved photographs. So Saturday we were going to do a photoshoot with Jia, who works for TBC. We were going to Yuan Ming Yuan Park, which used to be an imperial palace and was destroyed during WWI. The ruins are there and it's a common, almost touristy spot for Chinese. We went to a larger area of the ruins and planned to take the photo under this large stone ...

... to see Tiananmen Square. We ended up going to the Forbidden City instead. Since this week is a national holiday week in China...you can imagine the crowds. We saw the Temple of Heaven on day 2 and eventually saw the Tiananmen Square on the 4th day. All were really great to see. Very impressive that such monuments and architecture have been restored the way they have so that people like us can glance for a moment back in time ...

... hair than is usual. The smog here has been really bad still. Yesterday was the best day, as the wind cleared most of the smog out of the area. But if you look at the pictures, all of them have some kind of tint to them... it was more than a little disappointing to arrive at the Great Wall unable to see very far into the distance. Hopefully the next few cities will be a little better in that regard. As I said before, being here has been pretty ...

... vriendelijk en allerminst opdringerig. Soms zijn ze ook een beetje raar. Naar het zich voordoet wil de Chineze overheid graag dat de Chinees zich netjes gedraagd. Recent is er een marsorder uitgegaan dat er niet meer geroggeld en gespuugd mag worden op straat. Het helpt maar ten dele. Vaak genoeg kom je nog zo'n keelschraper tegen die zich van geen kwaad bewust lijkt te zijn als je hem een beetje verbolgen aankijkt. In de bus is het vaak ...