Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is to inform others about my experiences in China. Most likely, my readers will consist of the 4 or 5 of my American companions residing in the Chicago area, however the blog is open to anyone interested. I will be in Beijing for 4 months, traveling occasionally outside of the city. I will attempt to give a brief synopsis of my experiences, and unique characteristics of China's culture and daily affairs. Once again, I realize many of the things i will report have been noted in books and previous blogs, however my few companions will hopefully be able to use my blog as another mean to distract them from thier daily office jobs, and elimate the need to write multiple emails of similar content to these folks.
( If spelling is off, it shall be updated along with the installation of Microsoft Office on my device used for communication to my dear old country, and no for some reason it does not spellcheck automatically on the wordpress page)
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/153634
gGreat wWall: It is most of the most beautiful sights, it is entirely worth all ofthe cred, and it cannot be explained because of how miraculous it is. The day i visited, rained, and as a result the sky was foggier than usual for taking photos, and getting a clear view of the wall in front of you was impossible. However, the rain was useful as a cooling aid while climbing up the mountainside to reach the Wall. The climb up was long and possibly one of the most strenuous activities i have accomplished. I joined the group that climbed the entire open part of the wall, and continued past the cutoff, with direction from a chinese women " To proceed if we please, just dont wake the guard". luckily, I wore gymshoes, unlike many of the lovely asian women in highheels( you would think they would know better). the bottom of the hill at the entrance to the wall is filled with sellers, who literally pull foreigners to buy overpriced teeshirts with the logo " I love great wall more than ever" or miniature ceramic replicas of the wall.
- Man smoking bong at wall entrance
- the wall
Wanfujing Market: One of the many Beijing markets i visited today was frantic and overwhelming. Being that i do not know my way around Beijing yet, or even have a loose understanding of the subway system, I am forced to travel in packs of 15, which is not conducive for making smooth, strategic moves through the market, very difficult for a person, like me, who likes to walk with purpose. Regardless, the market was quite an experience. It is like an alley tucked to the side of one of the large main streets in Beijing. Outside of the market the streets are jammed with advertisements, flashy lights and angry bikers and vehicles who have no sense of the traffic lights. Inside the market was full of food and merchandise vendors, who again like to pull your arm in order for you to make purchases. the merchandise vendors barter, but the food vendors have set prices, although everything is cheap approx. 2$=15RMB for a knockoff pair of ray-bans. everything is sold from Chinese slippers to cigarette dispensers with chairman Mao's photo. The food was the most interesting part however. Small stands sell scorpions, cicadas, goat testicals, seahorse, fruit coated in crystallized sugar,all of which are served on a wooden skewer. I took a shot at some Yak's milk, which tasted like blueberry yogurt, and a bite of starfish, horrible, which I can best describe as the consistency of a potato chip, with a salty, griddy, fish flavor.
This is an extremely touristy spot, we were asked if people could take our photo multiple times, and men dressed in army jackets walked around with bowls asking for food,
(Photos to come)
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