From China 6-21-07...
I arrived in Beijing on Monday evening after quite the saga to get there. Many of you may have heard me moan and complain and worry about missing my flight to China. I think God must have a sense of humor because when I got there and got on the plane (all with time to spare) it was hot hot hot. Then we taxied out to the runway but then taxied back to the terminal, apparently the plane was too hot to take off. About 3 hours later we actually did manage to leave Dulles.
Beijing was nice, but very polluted. They are putting up new building about as fast as possible in anticipation of the olympics next summer. We had Peking Duck which was very good, and went to see the forbidden city and on a cycling tour of the hutongs (traditional neighborhoods) where I learned that it is an adreniline rush when you barely miss getting run over by a bus. I think some in my group were a little worried as I rode by (first time on a bike in a long time) yelling"I'm hell on wheels!". That was actually a pretty good description. Also saw Temple of Heaven, newly renovated and gorgeous, and had more dumplings than I could eat (and some of you know that is quite a lot)!
We also went to the great wall at Simantai where I decided I was "reasonably fit" (the requirement for Tiger Leaping Gorge, which we do later in the trip) because I was one of the first two to make it to the top. It was a lot of stairs- about 2 hours up and 1 back down, but worth it for wonderful views of the wall. There was also a zip line which I did not do because after my adventures in Costa Rica I no longer enjoy zip lines.\
After that was overnight train (pretty posh with nice food) to Zhongwei. We went rafting on goat skin rafts which was interesting and the terrain out there is very desolate. Then the next day was the much anticipated camel safari into the Tengger dessert. It had rained the day before but I was reasonably sure it would not rain much in the dessert. It rained the **whole time**. It did not stop once. Our camel drivers were very nice and helpful, but that didn't save the fact that the tents we slept in were not holding up to wind and rain. I was lucky enough to find a laura mac shaped dry spot in the middle of mine. Also on this trip, I learned that Chinese folks use rock paper scissors as a drinking game. I must have looked keen because I was drug into this by the camel drivers. Of course you can't get drunk on 3% alcohol beer but I eventually had to tell them to stop because I was bloated. The next day the camels were pissed because of the rain so we walked out an hour to the highway. We got day rooms in Zhongwei, dryed off and laughed about the rain in the desert.
Next was off to Xi'an which I really enjoyed, it has its Ming dynasty walls and excellent food. The Muslim quarter was interesting and scenic, although public bathrooms could be smelled several streets away (on this trip I have decided I am a big fan of western style toilets, or any toilet that is clean). We went to see some of the city's temples and cycled around the city walls, which was a lot less hair-raising than cycling in Beijing. Of course we also saw the Terra Cotta soldiers, which was well worth the trip.
Now I am in Chengdu. This morning we did the Panda breeding center. Pandas are lazier than me. They sleep or eat all the time. But they are very cute. Then we went and had a vegetarian feast at a monastary which was extremely good. I didn't know you could do that many things with tofu. Tomorrow is off to Dafo (the world's largest carved Buddha) and back here for Sichuan cooking class.
Beijing was nice, but very polluted. They are putting up new building about as fast as possible in anticipation of the olympics next summer. We had Peking Duck which was very good, and went to see the forbidden city and on a cycling tour of the hutongs (traditional neighborhoods) where I learned that it is an adreniline rush when you barely miss getting run over by a bus. I think some in my group were a little worried as I rode by (first time on a bike in a long time) yelling"I'm hell on wheels!". That was actually a pretty good description. Also saw Temple of Heaven, newly renovated and gorgeous, and had more dumplings than I could eat (and some of you know that is quite a lot)!
We also went to the great wall at Simantai where I decided I was "reasonably fit" (the requirement for Tiger Leaping Gorge, which we do later in the trip) because I was one of the first two to make it to the top. It was a lot of stairs- about 2 hours up and 1 back down, but worth it for wonderful views of the wall. There was also a zip line which I did not do because after my adventures in Costa Rica I no longer enjoy zip lines.\
After that was overnight train (pretty posh with nice food) to Zhongwei. We went rafting on goat skin rafts which was interesting and the terrain out there is very desolate. Then the next day was the much anticipated camel safari into the Tengger dessert. It had rained the day before but I was reasonably sure it would not rain much in the dessert. It rained the **whole time**. It did not stop once. Our camel drivers were very nice and helpful, but that didn't save the fact that the tents we slept in were not holding up to wind and rain. I was lucky enough to find a laura mac shaped dry spot in the middle of mine. Also on this trip, I learned that Chinese folks use rock paper scissors as a drinking game. I must have looked keen because I was drug into this by the camel drivers. Of course you can't get drunk on 3% alcohol beer but I eventually had to tell them to stop because I was bloated. The next day the camels were pissed because of the rain so we walked out an hour to the highway. We got day rooms in Zhongwei, dryed off and laughed about the rain in the desert.
Next was off to Xi'an which I really enjoyed, it has its Ming dynasty walls and excellent food. The Muslim quarter was interesting and scenic, although public bathrooms could be smelled several streets away (on this trip I have decided I am a big fan of western style toilets, or any toilet that is clean). We went to see some of the city's temples and cycled around the city walls, which was a lot less hair-raising than cycling in Beijing. Of course we also saw the Terra Cotta soldiers, which was well worth the trip.
Now I am in Chengdu. This morning we did the Panda breeding center. Pandas are lazier than me. They sleep or eat all the time. But they are very cute. Then we went and had a vegetarian feast at a monastary which was extremely good. I didn't know you could do that many things with tofu. Tomorrow is off to Dafo (the world's largest carved Buddha) and back here for Sichuan cooking class.