Some more interesting Pics

This is a restaurant in the mall in Chongqing.  We happened across this as we were looking for the Harry Potter Store.  Now you know what they think of Western Toilets.  The sinks in the center of the table is the serving bowl.

The Shop Bag at the wall, the bag has now been to two different continents. 

John eating a fried seahorse we found at the street market in Xian.

Some Moe Pics

Amazing!!!! and Fun to Watch

I need a Cool Hero Name!! Of course ,Wonder Woman Works!!!

One of the few Pagodas

I'm Home

Things I have learned while in China

Knee-How... are the words for Hello,How are you?
Pea-Joe .... Beer after all you cant drink the water and the alcohol content is below 2% so, you cant get a "buzz on" either.
Gambay....Clink your glasses and finish off what you have in your glass
Shay-shay...Thank You
Houlie...Nurse

Ok, so, i did not learn too many words but, enough to be some what polite.

There are the three T's that the Chinese never mention nor, will they talk about if you find some one who speaks your lingo. Ti-an-amen Square, Tibet, Thailand.

There are also the three F words. These you will notice as far as courtesy goes. It is the first time I have travelled to a non-Christian place, you can really tell a difference.
There is no helping one another. If you fall in the streets here there would be people surrounding you asking if you needed help. If you fall there and no one knows who you are, you may lie there a very long time. The three F words are Family, Friends, and F#$% you. They really don't care about you unless they know you. This is why if, you move to one of their towns the other foreigners get to know you and they stick together.

Just because a place is dirty, does not mean they don't have good food. Of course, I'm still waiting to see about parasites.... Just kidding!!! Though there is some truth to that.

It is also better to not ask what a dish was until a day later. You might not like the sound of what you ate but, it might have been very good. You do not touch your food, there is no finger food in China. There is no three second rule, if it drops to the table, leave it there. If it falls to the ground, it was never yours to eat. I'm sure this has to do with the fact that there is no toilet paper and no soap. You Never put your fingers to your mouth even when chewing on a bone. Spit it out and preferably on the floor. Some places do hace rolls of napkins on the table.

Contary to what Americans believe there are stray dogs and cats in the streets.

They will take your picture if you are a westerner and they might get right up into your face to do this.

They drink Hot water and hot tea through a staw.

It is very common to push your way through a door instead of lining up to go through a door. Such as waiting for a bus, instead of lining up to get on, you would push your way on, same with the subway, or train station. at the airport you have metal bars that make you form lines.

Mainland China and Hong Kong are two different countries, even though they are both considered China. You do not need a Visa to go to Hong Kong But, you need one for Mainland China. The Chinese need a Visa to go to Hong Kong. The Mainland Chinese want very much to claim Hong Kong as theirs and The Hong Kong Chinese want nothing to do with the Mainland. Hong Kong has many rules such as no spitting, they form lines, health rules for restaurants, it is very much a european town.

I'm sure i will think of some more but, for now i'm jet lagged. Maybe try to get a bit more sleep before work.

More Pics



The one day we seen the sun set, Notice how grey the surrounding sky is.  We are up on top of the Xian city wall



John and I are riding the metro (subway).  We thought we got lucky and it was an empty train.the next stop it filled beyond capacity and we left people standing waiting for the next train.

The Warriors!!!!

Some more pics



Muslim Duck In Xian after visting the Wariors.  Can you see the tiny plastic cup?  Whatever you oder you get a collapsable plastic cup with either hot water, tea, or beer.  You can not drink the water unless its been boiled.  so, you always get hot water with a straw.  There is no 2 minute rule in China, if it falls on the table, leave it there!!




John and I in a motorized Rickshaw.  He did not want to be in the  picture.



It is the Year of the Dragon

Hong Kong

Before i actually get to Hong Kong, there has been a mix-up with my flight/  They claim they never got a confirmation number, even though i have the paperwork in my hand.  What the heck, am i supposed to do.  After going at this for about an hour, i have handed over my credit card and have paid way too much for a ticket that should have been a quarter of that amount.  I have since checked my account and the first airfare was never charged but, the question remains "how did i get a confirmation number?"..

I got to Hong Kong and checked into my last Hostel, which is no more than a bed and two feet on one side of the bed.  Definetely a place to sleep and not much else.  The cool thing is, i can blog freely and post pics, you have to love the British for that. For, i have noticed that when i post it takes about two days before you receive it back in the states.  I have not read through them so, not sure if things have been altered but, whenever i tried to post pics, they just wouldnt go through.

When I arrive in an unfamiliar city at night.  I personally like to stay close to the hostel so, that i can get myself acclaimated to the area.  Lo and Behold right next door to me is a pub, which serves food and of course drink.  I managed to get a spot at the table facing the street.  I'm very pleased thinking that i have scored, i can eat, drink and people watch.  Nothing seems better after the terrivble time i had at the airport.  The table to my left is speaking chinese and to my right English.  After awhile the English man engages me in conversation.  At which point about 5 others join in too.  I find out that one of the men owns a boat (54 Foot Sailboat) and is waiting for his sails to be repaired.  We talk at length about sailing ( my Father built sailboats) and he has now offered me a chance to set foot on his boat.  I'm very hesitant because, well just becuase, i dont know him and have no clue if he's telling me the truth nor do i know his character, nor so i know where the heck i am.  In the end i go, and  i didn't realize how close i was to the marina, which was about two blocks away and we get into his Dinghy and he motors us to the boat.  The Boat is INCREDIBLE and the skyline AMAZING!!!! We sit and chat until the wee hours of the morning and he was a perfect gentlemen. Thank you LORD!!  My only regret is that i did not have a camera so, no pics.  But, a beautiful end to an otherwise bad day!!!

Hong Kong,  I'm Loving it!!!  They Speak English, Not everyone is staring at me, I blend in once again.  YEAH!!!!!   There is Sun, Sand, Ocean, Mountains and it's gorgeous.  I have ate out on the street near the South China Sea and I got Sun burned.  I was only there tops for about 45 Minutes but, i could not get enough of the sun.  I then headed to Stanley street Market where i was told the best souvenior shops were.  I finally picked some up and now hoping everyone will be pleased. 

Enjoying a beer and catching some rays!!!

Pictures, I hope....

John and I at the Great Wall.  It was 18 degrees at the wall. One of the only times you can see blue skies.  We didnt realize how lucky we were this first day.

The WALL

Pekind Duck.  YUMMY!!!!
Some sort of green vegetable but, tastes more like a bean sprout with Pancake.

Leaving Leshaun

Leshaun stands for Happy Mountain. It is such a beautiful part of China and the last day there the sun is shining and you can somewhat see the mountains, still a bit hazy but, their are shadows today. Took a boat ride this morning and enjoyed being on the rivers. There are three that run through town, with the sun it is warmed up to about 50 degrees and it is nice to sit without my jacket on.

That is one of the things I miss, never taking off my jacket.

The rest of the day I have spent going through the markets...meat, vegetable, souvenir, still have not found what I want but, will have to bring something home so, I'm getting a few small items and some I'm sue will be disappointed.

I have eated " hot pot" several times now and enjoy it very much, things are very, very , very spicy in eastern China. It doesn't matter what you eat, there is flavor to it. We went out last night for " shau cow" which is much like hot pot but, they cook everything for you on skewers and bring it to your table. They do not set this up until about nine at night and once again the place is hopping. You bring your own drink and there is lots of conversation and good times. Picking out the skewers is always fun, sometimes you know what it is and most often you guess after you have tasted it.

Tonight, we are playing cards and packing. It's hard to say good-bye.

Tomorrow, we have rented a car to take us to Chengdu and from there fly to Hong Kong.

The Giant Buddha

The giant Buddha is where we traveled to today, it is in Leshan.  Another two hour bus ride.  The bus and train stations are mad houses.  There is no orderly way to get on the bus or train.  They open the gates  and everyone charges toward the gate.  People are pushing and shoving, it's a stampede.  They do not take your ticket until you get on the bus or train. They do assign seats because you can purchase either a seat or standing room only ticket.  They are both quite nice to ride although, extremely crowded.

The giant Buddha is carved into a mountain and it is visible by either a steep cliff road or by the river ferry boat.  We opted for the steep cliff road,  While getting to the cliff road, first you walk up the mountain and view the gardens(not much to see it's still winter) and temples but,it's peaceful and away from the continuous honking.  They honk all the time whether you are in the roadway or not.  They even honk in Leshaun and it is a very small town in comparison only one million people.  The cliff road is very steep in spots but, has steps throughout.  Going down is always much easier than coming back up.  We were hoping that when we had reached the bottom that we would not have to climb back up,  Lo and behold we climbed back up and then down again into a very quaint little fishing village.  Here i could have stayed and enjoyed the river but, there were some ladies hawking their merchandise and chased us away.  They do not understand the word "NO" or " BOO" which is Chinese for No.  If you think the stuff the Chinese sell to the states is junk/  The stuff they sell to their own people is worse.

I have yet to find a fabric store but, have found quite a few yarn stores and counted cross stitch is BIG here.  When asking about a fabric shop they either send me to a tailor or a women's clothing store. I have found a few things on the Internet but, when i try to translate, it just doesnt work.  I have even found clerks to write it in their own language but, when i show the taxi driver, he never seems to understand.

I have yet to buy anything to take home it is either bloody expensive or so cheap it would fall apart while packing.

We have enjoyed some peaceful days, where we just walk around and find whatever.  Maybe a nice place for lunch, time for a beer, grocery shopping, people watching.  How could i forget this, I had to register with the police department in every little town i go to.  This is always a comedic situation because neither I or the police speak the same lingo.  Their forms are always in Chinese Characters, truly a sitcom should be written on this alone but, the government must know where we are at all times. 

A Little more observing and you notice the ladies all have sleeves for their coats, they are plastic protective covering and have cute little things on them such as "Hello Kitty", flowers, monkeys.  the reason for this is they never take their coats off, they keep everything at the same exact temperature, inside or outside.  They think that you pick up less diseases by keeping everything the same temp.  Needless to say my feet have not been warm for days.

Another observations is that the men carry the ladies purses, i'm not sure why but, we have all come up with a few theories.  I say it means they are going out together or attached in some way.  Here are a few more theories, they can get the guy to do it, they are too weak to carry their own.  This really baffles me and why would you want your man to carry your purse?


Just got back from the Panda Reserve, the Pandas are AMAZING!!!!  They are incredibly cute.  The park is very clean and i almost flet like i was breathing fresh air.  AAAAaaaaahhhh!!!  The bamboo trees are also very note worthy.  The pandas were active and i got some great pics.  Hopefully, i will try and post again tonight. I havent been very fortunate to do this whenever i get a picture up the connection goes down.


I was missing the sun, haven't seen it since Beijing.  Today i caught a glimpse of it for about five minutes or so.   Quite Nice. We have treated ourselves to a real hotel tonight, complete with Heat and a real shower.  I might actually sleep with warm feet tonight.  YEAH!!!!! I might even get caught up with some western news. 



The panda reserve is in Chang-du.  it's approximately 2 hour bus ride west from Chongqing.

Today we headed out to find the "Harry Potter" store both of my girls are huge (did i say HUGE) fans so, i thought it would be fun to pick something out from there to bring home.  Chongqing has five different downtown districts.  Did I tell You 32 Million People. We have explored four out of five and lo and behold they have closed them all down. Sorry Girls.  They do have a great Rail Metro Station, which is only two years old and nice and clean.  though this task has taken us all morning and into the afternoon we will not be going to the hot springs but, will get ready to meet John's friends for "KTV"

First John wants to take us out to dinner in one of the high rises with a magnificent view of the city. The dinner was wonderful and the view stunning.  The chinese light up everything.  All of the buildings have lights and not just the tops, and not just one color, we ate talking flashing, red, blue, green, yellow white lights everywhere.  In the trees too.  Some are synchronized, some stay the same but, there are lights everywhere.

we then head to "KTV" to meet up with Johns friends.  We start off with about seven of his frineds and end up with about 12 -15 young men who all teach English, and who are from all over the world.  Though the majority are either from Britain or the the states.  They are all very nice and come out strong when there is a relative in town.  There are so few foreigners in town that they stick together which is quite nice.  Back to "KTV" which is Karaoke television.  John is an excellent singer but, i do not carry tunes too well.  You actually rent a private room for your party and order drinks and snacks. You get two Mics and pick your own music.  It was a lot of fun and this took us into the wee hours of the morning.

Upon Arrival in Chongqing, we found our next hostel "Where Friends Meet" it is located on a "houtang" which is an alley where they sell just about everything and street food.  This is always very interesting and I'm starting to haggle a bit.  It is also located on one of the major rivers that go through the city.  I  would like to say that the view is beautiful but, you really cant see through the "Haze".

We found a wonderful place for lunch with a Chinese band which played traditional music and really performed for us.  There are not a lot of westerners in this part of China so, they are extremely friendly and want you to feel at home.  They also take your picture a lot!!

We then Headed to John's Apartment which, is on the 16th floor of an extremely tall high-rise.  It is quite small but, a lovely place.  His roommate David will be leaving next week so, John is looking for another place to live.  No roommate this time.  It seems that the Chinese build everything upwards, there are so many tall, very tall buildings. Chongqing has 32 million people.  It is the third largest city in China. 

He then showed us the cheap imitation shopping district.  It is underground and goes on and on and on.  It is where they sell all of the name brand rip offs.  Its quite amazing and ohn assures me the stuff falls apart rather quickly.

We stopped and had some beer on the street and people watched a bit.  there are people everywhere and even though its the middle of the day, its packed.  Makes me wonder if anyone works here and yet i know the Chinese are very hard working.  There is just SO many people.

From there we went to club that John has played in and had a few more beers because he claims that i must feel a bit buzzed before we meet his friends and eat "Hot Pot".  Hot Pot is a bit like fondue, there is a big pot in the middle of the table filled with oil, a very SPICY oil.  You put in your own food and fish it out with chopsticks, no skewers. Food consists of beef, pork, chicken feet, intestines, bean sprouts, lotus root, (which is yummy), brains ( i did not ask who's) tofu, cucumber, potatoes, noodles. Digging it out with chopsticks is not as easy as you would think.  In fact not easy at all, not sure if it was the beer or the fact that chopsticks are still a bit foreign though getting easier daily.  John's friends came with us , where more beer was drank and some wine which was more like a grape juice than a liquor.  We had a lot of laughs and John's friends were more than pleasant

From there and the time is now Mid-night and the street is still hopping we headed to a Mahjong
room.  You rent the room for however long you like and they supply a hot sweet tea which you drink through a straw.  We, of course, brought in our own drinks but, also drank the tea.  I learned the proper way to play Mahjong which is much different than the computer game i play.  The tables are elctroic and automatically set up the tiles for you.  There are four of us to a table and we have two tables going.  I'm quite a compettive game player so, i caught on quickly and even won a round. Had a most enjoyable evening.

Got back to the hostel quite late and it is now early morning.  My feet are once again not cold but, freezing. why they dont heat anything i dont know but, i wish they did.  The Chinese believe that the inside temp should be the same as the outside temp it is just above 32 degrees farenheit. 

i have been truly blessed to see how they really live, eat and entertain themselves.  Because if i was in the states, i would definetely think twice about eating at some of these establishments. 

Tomorrow, Hot springs, and "KTV", Harry Potter store.

Note to self: Little plastic beer cups, sleeves for your coat, Chinese men who carry their ladies purses,
street merchants.

Flying to Chongqing to today and guess what, yep you guessed...I'm back in the middle seat.

Traffic, bicycles, scooters, cars, people, and rickshaws.  Chicago is known for its jaywalkers but,we have nothing on China.  Nobody Looks they just step out into the street and walking in the road is normal and scooters and motorbikes on the sidewalk is normal too.  The honking is non-stop.  The cars don't use signals and cut across lanes with out looking, sometimes three or four at a time and a U-turn is acceptable  anywhere, John likes to throw us into taxi's and me and listen to me gasp and watch me close my eyes and has made quite a few drivers laugh. Then i think they try to be as outrageous as possible.

Toilets, they have two different kinds and you are fortunate when you come across the western variety which, we are all familiar with.  Then there is the Chinese variety. a hole in the floor and have i mentioned their is NO, No, no toilet paper.  You must purchase your own and keep them in your pocket.  they are equivalent to our Kleenex tissues in a plastic bag.  Back to the hole in the floor, they do have grips on either side so, that your feet do not slide.  The more interesting thing is sometimes you come across a western toilet and it has shoe prints on the toilet seat.  Enough said on that subject.

Ok, maybe not because this brings me to a same but different topic. Toddlers pee and poop in the street.  Men also pee in the street.  There are no diapers, the Chinese think that diapers are unclean so, when a child has to go, they squat and relieve themselves. they have holes in their pants so, that their butts are sticking out.  it would definitely save you some money not having to buy diapers.

Now for something completely different, Smoking.  Smoking in Beijing and Xian, they did have non-smoking restaurants and in both hostels you were not allowed to smoke.  These two cities have more of a western influence, though their is plenty of smoking on the street.  John has assured me in Chongqing that smoking is very much the norm and he too has taken up the habit. I too, have observed that when in a restaurant and if the people around you see you smoking they offer you cigarettes and it is bad manners to refuse.  Women who smoke are considered "Slutty" so, few do.

We have been lucky the first two days in Beijing and actually viewed the sun, the last three days or more there has just been this "haze".  it is actually smog but they Chinese call it either "haze" or
"fog".  We are surrounded by what appears to beautiful mountains but, you really can't see them until you are on top of them.  I have yet to see the moon or stars.

Xian.... day three and four

Xian, the city where the terra cotta soldiers live.   
We spent the first day exploring the city, they have a musical fountain and I thought the only one was in Grand Haven, Michigan.  We then went to the small goose pagoda.  Which is situated in a small park and quite lovely.  I must mention that I'm still sore from the great wall.  14 Km up and down stairs truly kicked my butt and it seems that whenever we go that is all we do, climb stairs.
We have truly kept moving since we got here.  Though somewhere between nine and eleven pm we come back to the hostel and order beer.  The Chinese are not noted for their wine or beer but, they do have some nice imports (Guinness and Carlsberg) . I'm enjoying the cultural difference here versus Beijing.  Beijing was very westernized and this has more of a china feeling, including the architecture.  John assures me that his town is even more so.  We explored the Muslim quarter and enjoyed some excellent Indian food.  They have a merchants quarter and haggling is the nature of the game everywhere in China.  I have been not good at this and so, have not purchased much.  They start off at 100 and I now say 20 and hope to get it for 30.  Walking away is the answer, they then drop the price immediately.  It is an art form to master.  speaking of mastering, i do believe I have mastered the chopstick, because after all the walking, we eat well.  Tonight we ate at the dumpling house. Dumplings are a staple here and quite good. They can be filled with beef, pork, seafood and a mixture of all of these.  Hoping to send some pics tonight.
Having a great time tomorrow we fly to Chongquing,  Johns home.

Beijing Day two

The forbidden city, ti-an-men square.  The day is saturday and it is very busy on the subway.  It is 2 yuan to ride the subway which is very cheap.  This is for a round trip.. It is a ratio of 6 yuan to 1dollar.  The square is a square really not much to see but, I can now say that I have put my feet in the square. I have actually twirled around in the square.  Next is the forbidden city, it is filled with the old  style architecture that I so like to see.  It is very spread out and lots of buildings.  The gardens would be beautiful if it was not the middle of winter but, with some imagination you can picture how it would look in the summer.  We did not Have a tour guide so, we were on our own as far as knowing what things were.  There were a few English signs so, you can grasp some of the history.  We also had a china book which helped some.

  From there we headed to the silk market , I'm not sure what I was looking for but, it was not what I found.  It was more like a flea market though they had silk there it was only sold in three meters or more and they very much wanted to measure you for a dress or suit.  John did bargain some earrings for me which I absolutely love.  

We then headed back to the "happy dragon hostel" where our luggage was stored and caught a taxi to the train station.  We are heading to Xian tonight.  John and karen have begged for some western style food so, w are eating at M cDonalds tonight in the train station.   have a sleeping car which has been quite lovely.  Sleeping while traveling has it's benefits.  There is not much countryside, seems to me that there are a lot of factories and high rises even in the smaller towns.  Hardly any stars and I have yet to see the moon.  

Eating so far has been a pleasant experience.  You always get chopsticks, a bowl and a plate. The bowl and plate are of a desert size.  You put everything in the bowl and the plate is used for spitting out bones or shells or you just spit it out on the floor.  You do not put your fingers to your mouth, you spit. They do spit everywhere, right in front you on the street, in restaurants, in stores. They have no discrimination when it comes to spitting.

Wile walking to the square we ran into a "houtang" which is an ally filled with street merchants selling food and their wares.  I very much enjoyed this part of the walk.  Of course, they see you and want to sell you everything " cheap".  

I have also had people step right in front of me and take my picture.  They don't see alot of foreigners so, they  just snap your picture.  I'm just wondering what they do with these pictures.  If you  are standing and taking a picture, there is usually more than one camera going off at the same time.  

Tonight, I will touch on the toilets.  

Beijing

There is just no sleeping in the middle seat. Yes, you do doze off every ten to fifteen minutes and then your eyes open right up. Part of this is because I'm apprehensive about how I will get along. There is a very nice man sitting next to me who's name is Zhou (he tells me to call him George) This is a comfort to me since my father was George.  He has told me that all Chinese men know how to cook, because in order to "grab a woman's heart you must first grab her stomach.  I found this interesting and told him that it was just the opposite in America.  The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  he has also reissued me of other things, China is very crowded, there is no " personal space", it is not uncommon for four generations to be living together.  he has also taught me my first word,  "Gambay" which is  for clinking glasses together When drinking.  I'm drinking wine, he's drinking water.  I'm drinking wine for a couple of reasons, it's free, and I was hoping it would knock me out. Which brings me full circle. there is just no sleeping in the middle seat.  


now on to things I have learned myself.... rule one is to exchange your money before you ever leave the states.  But, of curse, I did not learn this until I left.  
Rule two: buy better ear buds.....14 hours is a very long flight and my ears now hurt.

First impressions from the sky.  Mountains, long oblong buildings at first and then everything rises up....a tremendous amount of very tall buildings...apartment type...the roads are almost devoid of any traffic and see that I'm landed at 4:30 I had  thought to see more.  my western way of thinking.

I am quite taken already by the Chinese lettering.  It's quite fun to figure out, not that I can but, quite interesting all the same...

I found John at the airport!!!!  yeah!!!

Tonight, though I'm extremely tired we are heading to get some Peking duck.  The best place to eat this dish so, I'am  told is in Beijing.   

The duck was amazing. Yum yum!!! With it we had a traditional green vegetable, some sort of seaweed (which i quite liked) along with tree fungus and a bread pudding with a semi sweet sauce.  the restaurant is very loud.  people sitting next to each other seem to be yelling at one another.  I'm assured by John that this is quite normal and in fact this is a QUIET restaurant.

The hostel we are staying at is called "The Happy Dragon" the staff is very nice and speak English quite well.  The rooms are cold, heat is not an option in China.  The temp in restaurants and homes are kept at about 50 degrees. Tonight the outside temp is 18. Brrrrrr!!!!! My feet are freezing.  This is also the reason why I'm awake at four in the morning.  could possibly have something to do with the time change too...but, I'm blaming  my feet. Did I say ice cubes.

Today we head to the great wall.  So, I should try and get some sort of shut eye good night all...

 Note to self ...tomorrow I must mention beds and plates bowls, bones shells 
Toilet paper,fortune cookies

Yesterday,  we went to the great wall.... The Chinese say that no man is a hero until he walks the great wall... you can now call. Me. Wonder Woman.... From Beijing it takes approx 2 hours, it's a nice bus ride and we hired a guide.  THis is a great place to mention that the traffic here is unbelievable and I felt that I should just close my eyes because, I.  Was silently swearing to my self the whole time.  People just make u-turns wherever, the cyclists and pedestrians walk and ride where ever.  Makes me want to cringe every time we get into a taxi. 

Back to the wall, it was incredibly, the views were amazing... We hiked up and down stairs and in the little guard stations, you come up in guard station number 4 walked up hill to number one and then back to 14.  The stairs are never quite the same size so, you must always pay attention to your feet.  Though that was my excuse for stopping and looking at the incredible views.  with our tour we got a complimentary breakfast and lunch.  The lunch was incredible along with breakfast, this was nice because it took the pressure off of ordering food.  Which brings me to, why they have pics with their food menus just like some of the restaurants in the states. Which is nice but, take note this is only in the more expensive restaurants.  Beijing's food is sweet so, I quite like it.  Where John lives the food is spicy, incredibly spicy so, I shall see how I get along there.

We got back to the wall at about five o'clock and then took a nice break.  From there we got into a taxi and headed to the summer palace which looked incredible from the outside but it was closed.  As far as Chinese architecture goes everything is quite modern but, in this section of the city I got to. See some of what I had expected.  More Chinese flavor of architecture.  Though most of it was run down it was still nice to see.  from the summer palace we ventured into the Beijing subway station.  As far as stations go, it was extremely clean and once again very modernized, it was also. Very crowded.

We took the subway to the railway system to buy tickets for tonights excursion to Xian to see the terra cotta soldiers.  We had trouble getting any of the ticket holders to fill our order but, then I see number 16 is the English speaking counter, lo and behold we wait once again only to have to speak Chinese to the agent.  Oh well, we did succeed in buying sleeping car tickets on tonight's train.  Today we head over to teinamen (sp) square and the forbidden city and the silk market....I'm very excited about both.  I saw a bakery, pastry shop up the street so, I think I will head over there while John sleeps.  I guess that means I'm feeling more comfortable about going out on my own.  And I need some caffeine.

Beds here are a two inch foam on plywood which makes for a hard night of sleeping.  Tomorrow night we stay in a hotel, I'm thinking that it might be a bit different kind of bed.  At least I'm hoping it will be.  

There is absolutely no personal space in China.  And no fortune cookies either. Not sure where the Americans got that but, there is none here....hoping tonight on the train I will be able to fill you in on toilet paper and plates and bowls. I'm ever improving on my chopsticks. yeah!!!

Signing off...Wonder Woman 

I'm in toronto, awaiting the big plane ride.

Less than twelve to go

Ok, I'm packed...and I have now went through the suitcase three times. I have taken things out and then put things back. I have packed only jeans. For those of you who know me well, not sure how this is going to work. I'm definitely use to wearing skirts and now I'm wondering if I should have brought something a little more dressier. I have decided not to open the suitcase again.

China or bust,

Kimberly

One Day to go

I'm still trying to get the feel for this blogging page but, I do believe I'm gaining some insight into how this all works. Thought I would do a bit of sewing tonight since I won't be near my machine for three weeks (withdrawal, maybe I should see about some group therapy) but, there is so much other stuff to get together. I've been pondering toiletry items. I'm sure they have toothbrushes (probably made in China) and paste there. Though I will bring my own anyway, just not a huge tube. Shampoo, conditioner, hair ties since I'm staying in hostels, these items might not be there, and who knows do they have them in hotels. I'm guessing that they wash their hair just like me so, i should pack lightly. I will need room to bring home all of the things I find that are "Made in China". I was warned to bring my own facial scrub because all of the stuff they sell has a whitening agent in it. That would not be good for my pale face. Next, I'm starting to get paranoid about how I'm going to communicate but, I guess pointing my finger will work then I can be classified as one of those typical Americans, the ones who only know one language, their own. How does one end a post? Farewell, always stitching, Love, Kimberly

I'm back to not knowing what I'm doing but, I will conquer this blog.

and another....

Ok, I posted. Now its time for an old Pic.

Oh my!!! With a little (lot) of help from some good friends, Here it is!
Kimberly's Big Life Adventure. I'm getting very Nervous, Excited, Delirious.
The travel date is set for Wednesday.