So I spent some time a few weeks ago in the motherland. Well not my motherland (although the majority of my caucasian friends wouldn't know) but Chinese peoples' motherland. And better yet, in Beijing where it all happens. Or will happen.. this summer... for the 2008 olympics... so long as Tiebet doesn't interfere, or is it China that's interfering with Tiebet? I'll leave that to those who are more familiar with the matter :\ Before I get too far off topic... here are some pictures:
The Great Wall. Probably the biggest highlight for me, other than watching some crazy American girl eat a scorpion. It was absolutely mind blowing. I've heard all my life that it's the only man made object you can see from space... but you really have no idea the magnitude of this thing until you're there... simply breath taking...
This is the new terminal at Beijing Airport...
Unfortunately the airline I was flying on wasn't so cool and they parked us outside next to the service garage... (oh well... )
The famous Tiananmen Square
No, that's not a SARS mask.. That's actually my Beijing Duck Chef. He's slicing up a tasty duck into little bits which I would place in a chinese "tortilla" of sorts with some veggies and eat.
Westin Beijing Financial District... Not to shabby...
Wangfujing the local night market was pretty amazing. Not only did they have all the fried ice cream and caramelized fruit you could eat. But they also had a fair share of silk worms, scorpions and other delicacies. I'm told by my chinese friends that they don't really eat that stuff but the foreigners dig it. I should write for a moment on the shear dedication of the chinese workers. As I was standing next to one of my friends, I asked "do you want to try that?" The chinese worker immediately responded in english "sir, it's very tasty you should try." My friend responded in Korean "않이, 먹기실어" (No, I don't want any). The same chinese worker then responded in Korean saying "Ms. com'on it's really good you should try it." When the worker saw we weren't going to try some of his food, he turned to the hispanic couple next to us and immediately started speaking spanish... Now that's impressive!
The forbidden city... the week I spent in Beijing was absolutely gorgeous.. blue skies.. nothing like I was told it would be.. then again I'm also told the Chinese government recently planted hundreds of thousands of trees to prepare for the olympics...
The Great Wall. Probably the biggest highlight for me, other than watching some crazy American girl eat a scorpion. It was absolutely mind blowing. I've heard all my life that it's the only man made object you can see from space... but you really have no idea the magnitude of this thing until you're there... simply breath taking...
HuTongs or narrow streets. This little housing area is one of the oldest original housing areas in Beijing; it's located just next to the forbidden city.
Emperor's throne room in the forbidden city... (A little renovation before the herds come in for the olympics)
Old guy writing chinese on the sidewalk with water. Pretty impressive. (I'm told that it's a very famous ancient chinese poem)
Occasionally I hear people complaining that they're seated too close to the smoking section. How's this for too close? (It's one table, half of it smoking, the other half, non).
Peking University (Beijing) China's Harvard? or Yale? wait.. I've got it.. it's China's iconic symbol of education.. so more appropriately, it's China's equivalent of Duke University Law School :D
Entrance to the forbidden city.. at night
Hope you enjoyed.
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