Monday, November 10, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Clean, Relax, Recoup
Day 11: Monday June 9th
Chris departed early this morning; Alec and I slept in until noon (and got more than 5 hours of sleep finally!) and are having a relaxing day cleaning up, doing laundry, and while he is finishing up his teacher homework, I've been writing these stories and playing with the hundreds of pictures I have from the past few days.
Chris departed early this morning; Alec and I slept in until noon (and got more than 5 hours of sleep finally!) and are having a relaxing day cleaning up, doing laundry, and while he is finishing up his teacher homework, I've been writing these stories and playing with the hundreds of pictures I have from the past few days.
Great Wall hike and foot massages
Day 10: Sunday June 8th
Last possible day for the three of us to climb the Wall.
We had arranged last night for a private driver (which Paul and Mr. Han among a couple others share) to pick us up at 9:30am. Waking up at 9 still a little intoxicated was the way we did it. The first half hour of the day was a blur: waking up, packing a little bit, getting breakfast and rations before meeting our Driver in the front of the university. Everything went very smoothly though.
Surprisingly Beijing hangovers are not too bad, which is great because today we were going on a 4hr hike of the Great Wall on a gorgeously sunny day. We hit a bunch of traffic and didn't make it to the starting point until 1pm. The hike was nothing short of amazing. Vistas, clear air, green landscapes, cool breezes, and a great sense of accomplishment when we were finished (which we celebrated by having ourselves a cold one).
You can imagine how tired we were after this, and so we treated ourselves to a luxurious spa where the foot massages and pedicures were divine (along with the all you can eat buffet, private card room, wet sauna, dry sauna and great showers).
Cheers to Beijing, China in general, and our accomplishments in the past 10 days.
Pictures:
One of the many stair climbs
with only 10 steps left, Chris needed to leave a little present for the Wall
Last possible day for the three of us to climb the Wall.
We had arranged last night for a private driver (which Paul and Mr. Han among a couple others share) to pick us up at 9:30am. Waking up at 9 still a little intoxicated was the way we did it. The first half hour of the day was a blur: waking up, packing a little bit, getting breakfast and rations before meeting our Driver in the front of the university. Everything went very smoothly though.
Surprisingly Beijing hangovers are not too bad, which is great because today we were going on a 4hr hike of the Great Wall on a gorgeously sunny day. We hit a bunch of traffic and didn't make it to the starting point until 1pm. The hike was nothing short of amazing. Vistas, clear air, green landscapes, cool breezes, and a great sense of accomplishment when we were finished (which we celebrated by having ourselves a cold one).
You can imagine how tired we were after this, and so we treated ourselves to a luxurious spa where the foot massages and pedicures were divine (along with the all you can eat buffet, private card room, wet sauna, dry sauna and great showers).
Cheers to Beijing, China in general, and our accomplishments in the past 10 days.
Pictures:
One of the many stair climbs
with only 10 steps left, Chris needed to leave a little present for the Wall
Back to Beijing: Planetarium, Zoo, Bomb Shelter, Boat cruise
Day 9: Saturday June 7th
Took a plane back to Beijing. we have a lot to do in the next two days to complete the city tour as Chris's last day is Monday. There were still a couple of things we wanted to do in the city itself: check out a secton of the city's underground bomb shelters and get some beers and play cards in a boat on Hou Hai lake. We also wanted to get out of the city a bit and climb the Great Wall.
We decided that our energy level was too low today to hike the Wall, so we decided to plan on the bomb shelters and lake. But, we couldn't do that until this evening. To fill our afternoon we checked out a couple movies at the Beijing Planetarium. The first one we went to was a 3D movie explaining the birth of the cosmos. Awesome. We then stepped that up and went to a 4D movie which went through life on earth until our late ancestors emerged from the waters. I won't tell you what the 4th 'D' was, but it was unexpected and rad.
Next, we went across the road to the conveniently located Beijing Zoo. In a word, 'depressing.' Why? The housing of the animals is grotesque (barren concrete holding cells). Alec said it best by saying "zoo's should be like hospitals, not prisons;" and the Beijing Zoo was a prison. On the positive side, things are getting better, and the best kept animals there right now are China's beloved panda bears. Great creatures.
Now we were ready to meet up with Paul (see earlier post about Paul) and eat dinner and check out the underground bomb shelters. The bomb shelters were built in the 60's and 70's during the Cold War scares. They are now abandoned, and a great place to check out if you get the chance. After polishing off quite a few beers we thought it time to (get more beers) check out Hou Hai lake.
We had a great time on the boat, lots of laughs, cards, beers, fireworks, swimming (well, only Alec. He did a quick naked dive off the boat into the water which everyone warned him was 'extremely disgusting.' "Mei shi" was his response as he was floating on this back in the polluted water.). Overall a great day. Got back to Alec's around 2am, setting us up to be even more tired tomorrow than we were today. Mei Shi.
Pictures:
cards and beers before the movies
4D!!!
Some Red Bull's before the Zoo
Panda CHNIA (yes, they seemed to have mispelled their own country. FAIL)
quick speed boat ride in the Zoo
Sign in bathroom of Fish Nation (dinner spot for tonight)
A bomb shelter
gettin on the boat
sparklers?
yummy swim
4D goggle's in MckieD's ? sure thing
Took a plane back to Beijing. we have a lot to do in the next two days to complete the city tour as Chris's last day is Monday. There were still a couple of things we wanted to do in the city itself: check out a secton of the city's underground bomb shelters and get some beers and play cards in a boat on Hou Hai lake. We also wanted to get out of the city a bit and climb the Great Wall.
We decided that our energy level was too low today to hike the Wall, so we decided to plan on the bomb shelters and lake. But, we couldn't do that until this evening. To fill our afternoon we checked out a couple movies at the Beijing Planetarium. The first one we went to was a 3D movie explaining the birth of the cosmos. Awesome. We then stepped that up and went to a 4D movie which went through life on earth until our late ancestors emerged from the waters. I won't tell you what the 4th 'D' was, but it was unexpected and rad.
Next, we went across the road to the conveniently located Beijing Zoo. In a word, 'depressing.' Why? The housing of the animals is grotesque (barren concrete holding cells). Alec said it best by saying "zoo's should be like hospitals, not prisons;" and the Beijing Zoo was a prison. On the positive side, things are getting better, and the best kept animals there right now are China's beloved panda bears. Great creatures.
Now we were ready to meet up with Paul (see earlier post about Paul) and eat dinner and check out the underground bomb shelters. The bomb shelters were built in the 60's and 70's during the Cold War scares. They are now abandoned, and a great place to check out if you get the chance. After polishing off quite a few beers we thought it time to (get more beers) check out Hou Hai lake.
We had a great time on the boat, lots of laughs, cards, beers, fireworks, swimming (well, only Alec. He did a quick naked dive off the boat into the water which everyone warned him was 'extremely disgusting.' "Mei shi" was his response as he was floating on this back in the polluted water.). Overall a great day. Got back to Alec's around 2am, setting us up to be even more tired tomorrow than we were today. Mei Shi.
Pictures:
cards and beers before the movies
4D!!!
Some Red Bull's before the Zoo
Panda CHNIA (yes, they seemed to have mispelled their own country. FAIL)
quick speed boat ride in the Zoo
Sign in bathroom of Fish Nation (dinner spot for tonight)
A bomb shelter
gettin on the boat
sparklers?
yummy swim
4D goggle's in MckieD's ? sure thing
Terracotta Warriors and black swans
Day 8: Friday June 6th
Day 2 of Xi'an was warm and rainy (which made us very glad that we did the bike ride yesterday). The main historical attraction of this city is the Terracotta Warriors . Another amazing site with great Chinese history.
After this we headed to an amusement park filled with architecture and history from the Tang Dynasty. Best thing about it: Seeing black swans and camels.
Pictures:
Warriors
close up of well preserved Archer
swan
camels
Day 2 of Xi'an was warm and rainy (which made us very glad that we did the bike ride yesterday). The main historical attraction of this city is the Terracotta Warriors . Another amazing site with great Chinese history.
After this we headed to an amusement park filled with architecture and history from the Tang Dynasty. Best thing about it: Seeing black swans and camels.
Pictures:
Warriors
close up of well preserved Archer
swan
camels
Wild Goose Pagoda, Bikin' the wall, late night walkin'
Day 7: Thursday June 5th
Upon our arrival we took a double decker bus to our hostel to plan our day. We only had two days in this small city (of 5 million people) which contains some amazing sites and history.
So, day 1's plan was to check out a giant Pagoda (Wild Goose Pagoda) which was a great showcase of construction, beauty, and history.
Next up: riding bicycles on the Great Wall of Xi'an (not related to the Great Wall). This one was built to unify and surround the city (which obviously outgrew the wall as the city expanded). You can see the rectangle wall that we were on here: google maps
We stopped for beers along the way, sang songs, and had an unbelievably good time. Best day ever, so far.
After a luxurious ride we were ready for some food. We hailed a cab and headed to the Muslim disrict of the city which offers great street vendors with all sorts of foods, drinks and culture.
. . . . back to the hostel for a nap . . . .
Waking up refreshed and ready to get a few drinks in, that's what we did. We ended up wandering the streets of Xi'an long enough (until about 4am) to see some of the city's workers waking up and preparing for another long day of serving food, making crafts, and enjoying life. We debated staying up for another hour to watch the sunrise in an hour and a half, but we decided (smartly) to get back to our hostel and get some rest. Amazing day.
Pictures:
bussin'
Wild Goose Pagoda
bamboo forest in Pagoda grounds
bamboo makes great chairs
riding and having beers on the Wall
hanging out
us on the wall
few drinks
walkin around
the good ol' USA
late night cards (around 3am) of some locals
Upon our arrival we took a double decker bus to our hostel to plan our day. We only had two days in this small city (of 5 million people) which contains some amazing sites and history.
So, day 1's plan was to check out a giant Pagoda (Wild Goose Pagoda) which was a great showcase of construction, beauty, and history.
Next up: riding bicycles on the Great Wall of Xi'an (not related to the Great Wall). This one was built to unify and surround the city (which obviously outgrew the wall as the city expanded). You can see the rectangle wall that we were on here: google maps
We stopped for beers along the way, sang songs, and had an unbelievably good time. Best day ever, so far.
After a luxurious ride we were ready for some food. We hailed a cab and headed to the Muslim disrict of the city which offers great street vendors with all sorts of foods, drinks and culture.
. . . . back to the hostel for a nap . . . .
Waking up refreshed and ready to get a few drinks in, that's what we did. We ended up wandering the streets of Xi'an long enough (until about 4am) to see some of the city's workers waking up and preparing for another long day of serving food, making crafts, and enjoying life. We debated staying up for another hour to watch the sunrise in an hour and a half, but we decided (smartly) to get back to our hostel and get some rest. Amazing day.
Pictures:
bussin'
Wild Goose Pagoda
bamboo forest in Pagoda grounds
bamboo makes great chairs
riding and having beers on the Wall
hanging out
us on the wall
few drinks
walkin around
the good ol' USA
late night cards (around 3am) of some locals
Back to Tian'anmen, Train to Xi'an
Day 6: Wednesday, June 4th
This was the day Chris and I repeated our journey to Tian'anmen Square, Urban Planning Museum, and the Forbidden City. Main difference between this day and try #1: we were actually able to enter these places!
Urban Planning Museum was great. It was basically a historical tour of the past and future planning of the giant city of Beijing. Complete with models, historical planning documents and interactive displays the museum was a great place to learn more about the city in which we are temporarily living in.
After returning to Alec's pad we packed up and headed to the train station to travel southwest to Xi'an, China. Getting on the train around 9:30pm we got a few beers and played some cards before sleeping in our cabin for a few hours. We arrived in the morning around 8am. This was my first overnight train ride, and I enjoyed waking up and seeing the countryside for the last hour of the ride.
Pictures:
Mao's Mausoleum
Us in the city (it was pouring rain, which is why noone else is in this pic)
Us overlooking the city model
Bird's Nest model (one of many new Olympic buildings)
Cards on the train
This was the day Chris and I repeated our journey to Tian'anmen Square, Urban Planning Museum, and the Forbidden City. Main difference between this day and try #1: we were actually able to enter these places!
Urban Planning Museum was great. It was basically a historical tour of the past and future planning of the giant city of Beijing. Complete with models, historical planning documents and interactive displays the museum was a great place to learn more about the city in which we are temporarily living in.
After returning to Alec's pad we packed up and headed to the train station to travel southwest to Xi'an, China. Getting on the train around 9:30pm we got a few beers and played some cards before sleeping in our cabin for a few hours. We arrived in the morning around 8am. This was my first overnight train ride, and I enjoyed waking up and seeing the countryside for the last hour of the ride.
Pictures:
Mao's Mausoleum
Us in the city (it was pouring rain, which is why noone else is in this pic)
Us overlooking the city model
Bird's Nest model (one of many new Olympic buildings)
Cards on the train
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