(no subject)
nihau from le china,
weeeeeee. yeah, so china is pretty swell--our hotel is right in the center of this freaking huge city. beijing must be the texas of asia, because it's goddamn monster of a city. the streets are wider than any i've seen in america, and the imperial parks go on for miles. we've seen the forbidden city, complete with the enormous picture of mao, tianemen square, the temple of heaven, the great lama temple, and we're taking a bus to the great wall tomorrow. people stare at you a lot if you're white, though for the most part there are very few white people here, and the majority of them are russians. i've gotten comments on the "white skin" and "big eyes," etc, but i doubt it's really that surprising in beijing. shopping is sort of a nightmare, because the vendors accost you from all directions and pet you and compliment you in engrish and then physically restrain you if you try to bail out. the food is great, and really different from chinese food in america, but vegetarianism doesn't translate well over here. most of the time tofu dishes will be served alongside some pork and beef that the menu didn't mention, so i've resigned myself to eating seafood rather than unwittingly eating cows (but don't tell your fishy friends).
must go, soma's waiting outside the internet cafe. talk you on sunday!
weeeeeee. yeah, so china is pretty swell--our hotel is right in the center of this freaking huge city. beijing must be the texas of asia, because it's goddamn monster of a city. the streets are wider than any i've seen in america, and the imperial parks go on for miles. we've seen the forbidden city, complete with the enormous picture of mao, tianemen square, the temple of heaven, the great lama temple, and we're taking a bus to the great wall tomorrow. people stare at you a lot if you're white, though for the most part there are very few white people here, and the majority of them are russians. i've gotten comments on the "white skin" and "big eyes," etc, but i doubt it's really that surprising in beijing. shopping is sort of a nightmare, because the vendors accost you from all directions and pet you and compliment you in engrish and then physically restrain you if you try to bail out. the food is great, and really different from chinese food in america, but vegetarianism doesn't translate well over here. most of the time tofu dishes will be served alongside some pork and beef that the menu didn't mention, so i've resigned myself to eating seafood rather than unwittingly eating cows (but don't tell your fishy friends).
must go, soma's waiting outside the internet cafe. talk you on sunday!