Beijing Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

-Great Wall journey in morning-rude man in bus-climbing and weather and shopping and where Olympics stuff was-lunch in Jade Factory - second impressions of the ladies from Florida (her son, I want to me a roamer like that)-looking around jade factory - where make Olympic medals-to Ming tombs - really cool atmosphere due to the wet weather - the one time I think it was adventageous for us-pictures and frolicking with the large statues-back on bus drive, get to see all the Olympic statdium (bir...

I don’t know if you’ve heard about this yet, but an American tourist was killed in China while visiting a famous tourism site. His wife was also attacked and still might die. Maybe if it hadn’t been during the Olympics, this wouldn’t be a big news deal, but there’s a famous saying that goes: it is easier to feel the death of one person you know than a million you don’t. Most of you know how much I love my alma mater, UCLA. What you probably don’t know is that volleyball is my ...

Beijing.  The capital of China.  A cold city, at least during winter/spring.  We arrived here by train from Hong Kong.  24 hours on something that was pure luxury compared to the trains in India.  We checked in at Wangfujing Youth Hostel and got ready to explore this small part of China, with important history. The city is huge, so you'll need at least a week.  Even more if you ask me.  We stayed for 10 days.  During the 10 days we got to see The Forbi...

after the forbidden city i wanted to "get real" and skip the tours to the great wall (which often stop for jade factory shopping tour emprisonment on the way) and do it the public transportation way according to lonely planet i wanted to go to huanghua but ended up in mutianyu every tour started at 6:30 or around that time, i decided to get up at 8 and finally stood up at 9 after a long discussion with my inner self if i really should do another tourist thing or just lie in bed all day. but...

I think I am addicted to writing. I visited Beijing twice last year. Once in Spring, and once in summer. I would skip winter I am allergic to cold as prescribed by Doctor Winnie. Beijing is the capital of China, and in the past, it used to be a communist country. Til today, many people are still uniquely Chinese chinese (if you get what I mean), and really proud and protective of their country. Fortunately, or unfortunately to many, Beijing is undergoing a major makeover due to the hosting ...

Yehah! New country- new adventures! We arrived in Beijing and were instantly thrown into the crowds and life that is China. Jen, Martin, Johnny and I made our on the Metro and managed to find the hostel- thanks Martin! And then hit the streets. Red Lanterns, street food stalls and people everywhere. This place was alive! And best of all- it was a decent temperature outside! Over the next five days we had a great time seeing what we could- The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, ...

If you had been to the Great Wall of China, most likely you went to the closest one from Beijing, the Badaling section of the Great Wall. I had been there twice, once in 1997 and another time in 2002, I am sure there are a lot more tourists now. So this time I wanted to go to a different part of the Great Wall. After a little research, I decided to go to the Simatai section of the Great Wall. It is about 120km northeast from Beijing, and took about 2 and half hour to drive there (later...

Templo de los Lamas El más grande de los templos lamaístas de la capital y a su vez una de las construcciones religiosas más interesantes. En el Salón de la Eterna Protección hay dos tankas especialmente famosos, pues se dice que fueron bordados por la madre del emperador Qianlong. Tras esta sala hay una escultura en bronce que representa el Monte Meru, sagrado para los budistas y lamaístas. Más allá se encuentra el Salón del Arte Tántrico. Es posiblemente la sala mÃ...

Managed to get tickets to the athletics heats yesterday. (15 Aug) went with a couple of friends and colleagues :)

So the next couple of days we hit the Temple of Heaven Park (very beautiful architecture but very polluted day), the Summer Palace (again very beautiful architecture), and dropped by Beijing University to hang out and explore campus. I must admit, the grand architecture of Beijing was starting to get a bit repetitive and so everything was sorta beginning to be a blur... and I was distracted by something else that permeated every fiber of my (and everyone else's) being: the pollution! The fi...

After more than a month's rest in Beijing, it eventually came time to leave. I had gotten used to wearing a coat and gloves indoors, but it will be nice to visit someplace warmer. I am headed to the south of China for some long-anticipated biking. I've dragged Rusty Jr. halfway around the world and only clocked a few hundred kilometres so far. It would be a shame to not do a bit more biking before I go home in December. I will be doing a solo trip through the mountainous Guanxi and Guizhou pr...

What better way to spend my last remaining days of my seven-month trip than walking around like an idiot for hours on end? Brilliant. I negotiated the overnight train to Beijing OK. I thought I would save money by avoiding a taxi across to the other side of Beijing and take the subway to my pre-booked hostel. I got pretty near without finding it before the heat, sweatiness and early-morning daze meant I ended up bailing and getting a taxi anyway. Later on, I set about walking into the city ...

To continue my window shopping, I wandered along Dashilar Lu which is yet another old hutong, this one running west from the Front Gate of the Forbidden City near Tiananmen Square. It's a huge jumble of silk shops, department stores, theatres, herbal medicine shops, etc. At lunch time, staff from all the restaurants yell for customers on the street. I responded to one and enjoyed a wonderful meal which was unfortunately enough for 6 people! I was delighted to find a group of eaters (from Wuxi...

- temple of heaven park- leuk, mensen die muziek maken en zo- echo wall- stukje over temple uitleggen - geen spijkers- silk market- shoppen, bargaining, so tiring we actually bought less than we wanted to- Maciek eten sidewalk restaurant- great food- nice germans Andreas and Danielle- geen zin om te pakken

Thursday August 11th, 2005Beijing, China10:30 amHow weird it is - to actually be in The Forbidden City. I remember reading back in 6th grade about the mass killing of college students here in 70's. And now, here I am. Walking in the picture of the man infront of the tank. Only 30 years later.How crazy this all is. Large chinese buildings, all with different names corresponding to what dynasty they were from. They are large, monstorous buildings. I feel like I'm in Mulan.In Europe, I could sem...