Zhongtianshi Hotel Beijing

... time around seven I had to think about returning to the hotel. I needed to meet Maggie, too, who had been working until then. This time much faster, PingPing and I returned to the Xinjiekou Beidajie. Before we went each our own way, we made an arrangement for the next day.
"What would you like to see tomorrow?" she asked me.
"Maybe it would be best to start it out with the Forbidden City."
"When do you want me to pick you up?"
"There's no need for you to pick me up," I ...

Another early morning. Went back to Tian an Men square for another last look around. Also saw a bit of the wheelchair marathon as it passed by the square. Then I went off to the Lama Temple, so see a bit about the Buddhists in China. Of course the current Dalai Lama has never been there! I think I ...

... we had a really hard time finding it. Tiananmen is an open sea of concrete. The largest public square in the world, smack dead in the middle of the city, and so big, in fact, it requires two subway stops - an East and a West. But we still somehow managed to walk in circles before finding it. They had the square decorated with flower gardens for the Olympics. These gardens were actually really neat and the highlight of Tiananmen. Without the gardens, I can't imagine the ...

... we ate tonight were little barbecue skewers with delicacies such as chicken hearts and other giblets. Tasted really nice though. We also had some beers which resulted in Bo getting a bit merry and me being very amused. When we got back to Dongzhimen I went to an Internet cafe for a while and it wasn't until 2am that I got back to Jari's house. Unfortunately he had only given me the keys for his flat, but he didn't have ...

... catching up on sleep, laundry, mail, etc. We had a glorious time, and in looking back, were amazed at how many different things we did and went to in just 2 weeks. Had a great time with our co-travelers. watch out, as we probably took 1200 pix or more. ( Bart went thru 46 batteries for his digital camera and that was before Beijing!) Time to save up $$ for our next adventure - who knows where that will be. Hope you've enjoyed reading along with us.

... take the subway to Koryo Tours office to pick up my stored luggage.Hotel.From now on no more group stress!But also, I have to organize again the trip by my own, something that I am used to do, anyway, no problem, and so I go right away to the vietnamese embassy to apply for my visa.The other priority is to cure my cough and I go to consult a doctor in the SOS clinic in Beijing. The next day, I have a full sighseeing ...

... look after a think (as if) and headed out to the forbidden city proper. The place is a mini maze; full of nooks and cranies and many of the buildings have been populated with small displays. One had pottery and porcelain dating all the way back to 1,500 BC, another had bronze that went back another thousand years. At the back was a very tasteful chinese style garden, they're big on ponds and rockeries. Eventually ...

... the four city gates--located in the direction of North, South, East, and West. However, with the cities recent development, an underground subway is currently being built to try to handle the congession during the busiest hours. There are two large gates that protects each entry point. In ancient times, after the intruders burst through the fist gate, they would ...

Today was our first day of school. I was so nervous; what would they think of me?, would I be alone?, would I understand anything? We arrived quite early with Rebecca in tow. We were expected, the guards let us in straight away and let us in his secruity office while we waited for the principal, out of the cold The principla led us to a conference room where we were met by a teacher. We got books handed toward us, a gift from the school ...

... infact go into a tea house of our own accord and it was amazing until I realise I was mixing my currenices up and it was 13 euro, not 1.30 euro!! But we got plenty of tea!!!!! :) Other stuff to update... We had to teach a taxi man how to drive, tell him when to stop and go aswell as directing him to our destination. We had the Housekeeping Staff from hell in our hostel. With the do-no-even-bloody-think-about-disturbin g-us sign on ...