こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today was our last day in Beijing, but before we left for Xi’an, we visited a Hutong, or old neighborhood, and visited a world-renowned artist who paints the inside of glass objects. It was amazing to see how she uses a curved brush to apply the paint so delicately and precisely.

Next, we traveled by rickshaw to the Bell Tower (钟楼) for a tea-tasting. We tried five different kinds of tea, and then had the opportunity to buy the tea, of course. It was fun and delicious!

After the Hutong tour, it was time to head for the airport and catch the flight to Xi’an. And that is where I’ll end today’s update.

See you tomorrow!

おやすみ

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こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today our tour took us to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. 30 years ago when I visited, I believe we came to the same section, but we started at the main parking area. This time our tour group took the tram up to the top, and from there we were able to hike along the wall. We first completed the easy section to the end, then turned around and went for a bit on the hard section. It was significantly more difficult because of the steepness of some of the sections, but my brothers and I did well.

It was pretty amazing to be up on the Great Wall even if it is a big tourist destination.

I thought these instructions at the front of the escalator were pretty funny.

And I always enjoy looking at the ice cream freezers when they have a photo of a beautiful woman on it!

After our visit to the Great Wall, we went to the Jade factory/market and received some “education” on the tradition of Chinese jade, the meaning behind it, the types of stone, and the quality differences. After the short lesson, we were provided with a pretty huge lunch with plenty of beer, wine, and a super-potent liquor. I sure this was in order to loosen up everyone’s purse strings before shopping in the jade market.

After that, we checked out the park at the entrance to the Ming Tombs, then drove through the 2008 Olympic area and saw the “Bird’s Nest” stadium, and the “Water Cube” from the bus, before returning back to the hotel.

Since we had a couple hours before dinner I did a little shopping at my favorite two stores: Uniqlo and Muji. I didn’t buy anything, but I always enjoy browsing those two!

And to conclude the day, we went to a restaurant for Peking Duck, where we stuffed ourselves and drank a bit too much! The food was yummy and the company was hilarious. It was a good time, for sure!

I hope you had a great day! Tomorrow there’s a morning tour and then we fly to Xi’an for the next leg of our journey, so I need to rest.

おやすみ

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こなばんは。How’s it going?

Well, it was a long, fun day today. To finish up, 6 of us from our tour group attended a Kung Fu show at the Red Theater. The martial arts were for the most part pretty good, especially the acrobatic moves and poses. I didn’t care too much for the feats of strength and breaking of “staffs” since it seemed like the wood wasn’t very strong to begin with. Also, the story got a little slow at parts, and combined with jetlag, we struggled to stay awake. I think all of us nodded off for bits here n there.

But regardless of that, I’m glad we chose to see this optional excursion. And we even got a souvenir DVD to relive the experience.

またね～

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This morning I woke up extra-early due to jetlag and decided to go for a run. At 6 am, the streets of central Beijing were surprisingly empty. In fact, I could pretty much run in the middle of the streets if I wanted to! I guess most of the people were beginning their commutes outside of the city, so it wouldn’t get busy until they arrived.

Since I don’t know the city at all, I just ran with Google Maps on and I looked for interesting places and parks, which led me to the Temple of the Sun. It’s a cool little park which has a beautiful pond and other points of interest and is also very popular with runners and walkers. So I was totally at home running (more like jogging), walking, and stopping to take photos.

You know, I try to run in new places, like when I visited Stockholm for business. Running can get you to places really quickly, and since you can stop at any time to take in the sights, it’s a great way to get familiar with a new city. Especially if you can do it early in the morning.

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こなばんは。How’s it going?

Well, we finally made it to China! After a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles, we arrived in Beijing at 2:15 pm local time. The weather is beautiful and it doesn’t seem too polluted.

The customs/security at the airport wasn’t too bad although I had a ton of trouble with the fingerprinting machines. They just couldn’t scan my fingers correctly and it took a long time to do. Eventually, one of the officers came by with a wet rag and cleaned the sensor window and it worked fine.

Soon after, we met up with our tour guide coordinator, then hopped into our shuttle (a Buick minivan) and after a short 20-minute drive we were at our hotel.

The rest of our group of 23 arrived at the same time, so after a quick rest, we headed to the attached mall and found a nice restaurant for dinner. Of course, our first meal in China has to be Chinese food, so Tak Yong fit the bill nicely! We ordered spicy minced pork with buns, kung pao chicken (to see how it’s prepared in the motherland), and a spicy fish dish. I chose the fish partly because many other diners ordered it, and also because I wanted to see how it compared to the spicy fish dish that I love back in Austin.

I thought it was delicious! The broth was clear, but there was plenty of red pepper and peppercorns to give it some heat, and the fish filets were tender and flavorful. The other dishes were yummy as well, and the portions were large. Three dishes were perfect for the four of us. My only complaint would be that the service was kind of slow and they brought out our rice after all the other dishes, so we couldn’t enjoy it together. However, our waitress was patient and did her best to translate using her phone and another little electronic display to communicate.

After dinner, it was still early evening so we strolled through the mall, then outside for a bit. The evening air was a nice temperature, but the city air has an unhealthy smell to it. Maybe because we are in the heart of the city and also it was the end of the day, but let’s see if the air is the same tomorrow morning. Will be interesting to find out.

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～

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