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Farewell Beijing, Hello Xi'anSubmitted by simonsc on Wed, 2007-03-21 17:43.
By Judith Klinger Our last day in Beijing was spent at the Temple of Heaven which is this 200+ hectare park with a temple in it and some other cool buildings. But the most amazing part is that many retired people go there every day to exercise and play cards and sing and do Tai Ji and ballroom dancing and a myriad of other things. It was incredible to walk around and watch. After that, we had a wonderful lunch at a hostel that our guide owns and then we had a personal performance of martial arts and some music by a local couple. It was really sweet. Some of us wante
Acrobatics, Flea Market Highlight Day in BeijingSubmitted by simonsc on Wed, 2007-03-21 17:40.
Today is our last day in Beijing - we fly to Xi'an this afternoon. It has been an incredible journey so far.
The day after the Forbidden City, we went shopping in an open air flea market. It was actually quite fun. Lots and lots of "stuff" and I really didn't buy much, but I had a great time walking around - people watching - checking out all the junk, "antiquities" (some of which were made the day before), artwork, some clothing, furniture (and no I didn't buy any although I was slightly tempted), haggling with the buyers on the few things I did buy and generally just enjoying myself. Then we went to an indoor shopping mall that was mainly clothes. It was not so fun. The vendors were way aggressive - like pulling on your sleeve as you walked by saying "my American sister - buy from me - you want tee shirt - you want socks - sister, sister, sister". Luckily I found a place on the top floor where they gave foot massages (and manicures, pedicures etc.) and I got an great 1/2 hour foot massage for the equivalent of about $3.00. Well wo rth it! And other folks bought stuff that they really liked so a good time was had by all.
That night we went to see an "acrobatics show". It was awesome! Along the lines of the a Cirque de'soleil show, although without all the special effects. But absolutely amazing acrobatics. The people were really talented. We took taxis home from there. Well that was an adventure! I was riding with Mark, Joan (his wife) and Ellen - all mature and fun, fun folks. We gave our driver the card that told him where our hotel was and off we went. Well apparently, the driver was confused by the map on the card and tried to take us to a park that is a little distance from our hotel. But it was in an area that none of us knew. So then the driver is looking for our hotel and not finding it of course. So, he is driving around and around and around - down little teeny alleys - down one road that dead ended into a construction zone (which was a typical street repair scene anywhere in the world - one man digging and about a dozen others standing around watching him....) and getting more and more frustrated. And of course, he doesn't speak any English and we don't know where we are so that is not helping. Finally he stops and asks another cab driver, but no luck. Then he starts asking people on the street, including an old woman on a bicycle with a big load of stuff on the cart on the back of her bicycle. Each time he gets back in the cab, he is muttering to himself under his breath. We were laughing so hard (we were all a little punchy and tired), I was crying. We felt bad because we didn't want to embarrass him, but it was just comical. Finally, we hit upon a brilliant idea. We showed him the itinerary that had our guide's phone number on it and he used his cell phone to call the guide. With that - he got back in the cab still muttering and drove us directly to the hostel with no problems.& amp; nbsp; By this time, even the driver was smiling. Anyway, it took us almost 40 minutes longer than it should have and of course, the meter was higher than it should have been, but he had no problem with us paying what it would have cost if he had brought us directly home so it was no problem.
Yesterday, I woke up at 4AM and couldn't sleep. Finally at 6AM, I got up to talk a walk. Kayla (my adorable roommate) was awake too and asked if she could go with me. Of course, I said yes. We are staying in a fantastic area which has all alot of old traditional housing and is apparently being preserved since it was one of the few areas of Beijing left like this. We had a great 1 1/2 hour walk looking for coffee. Went all over the neighborhood watching the early morning scene - people swimming in this really cold looking, really filthy lake, people doing Tai Ji, people exercising on this outdoor exercise equipment (like stair step machines, rowing machine type apparatus and other fun looking stuff), people eating breakfast on the street from outdoor street vendors and going to the many public restrooms (apparently most of the old houses do not have bathrooms in them) with their washrag and toiletry items. But still no coffee. ; ; Finally Kayla remembered where there was a Starbucks, so we went up there.
More from BeijingSubmitted by diamanth on Sat, 2007-03-17 16:38.
All students came safely, but exhausted from the long flight. Our hostel, called Drum Tower, is in a fantastic location, it is near Hou Hai lake that is beautiful and the streets near by have many shops and restaurants. On the first day we visited the Tienaman square and Forbidden City. It could have not been a more splendid Spring day. The Forbidden City was majestic in grandeour and splendor. Since it is not tourist season it was not very crowded, so we could really enjoy the incredible surroundings. After many hours of walking we were able to relax at lunch where everybody was owerwhelmed by the amount of different dishes and wonderful tastes. Beijing NewsSubmitted by diamanth on Thu, 2007-03-15 08:25.
I arrived in Beijing yesterday. Traveling on Korean Air was fantastic. It is how air travel used to be, The experience is something special and the movies are great. Silk Roads Anthology Now in Progress!!!Submitted by shekel01 on Wed, 2007-03-14 17:49.
We are now up and running! Please check frequently for updates. Anyone who wishes to post needs to subscribe to the Anthology page. Once you do, you will see some new links to be able to post writings and images. We hope to see plenty of both from everyone! If you are going on the China trip, or Turkey and Jordan, keep in mind that you can post little tidbits while you are overseas.
News from our own correspondent, Char Simons at the Asian games!Submitted by hirsh diamant on Sun, 2006-12-03 19:19.
 Being at the Opening of Asian Games was spectacular. Like being in the middle of a giant fairy tale: More than a billion people around the world - probably none in the U.S. - watched the Asian Games opening ceremony on TV. The sold-out crowd in the stadium was 55,000. The opening ceremony was produced by the same directors who did the opening ceremony at the Sydney Olympics, and on an even grander scale in Qatar with more than 2,000 performers, including Chinese pop star Jackie Cheung, Spanish tenor Jose Carerra. Parade of nations included 10,000 athletes from 45 countries. Volunteer workforce for the Games is 20,000. Technical organizers working with the Qataris have largely been imported from Australia, Canada and the UK and have been working here in Doha on the Games for the past two years. Dignitaries attending the opening ceremonies included heads of state from the Arabian/Persian Gulf nations, as well as Ahmedinejad, the president of Iran, Rogge, the president of the International Olympic committee (Qatar is bidding for the 2016 Games), and Blatter, the president of FIFA (world soccer federation). brief historySubmitted by simonsc on Wed, 2006-11-08 15:27.
The Asian Games began in 1913 as the Oriental Games. Every four years, a different Asian city hosts the Games. Doha, the capital of the Arabian Gulf kingdom of Qatar, is the first Arab country to host the Games, and only the second Middle East country to host, after Teheran, Iran hosted in 1974. |
