August 28, 2009 – Day 246 – Beijing, China
A typical day in Beijing consists of copious amounts of smog so thick it looks like you can slice the air with a smooth karate chop. Today was an inordinantly lucky day for us: the sun was shining! Since Lin was feeling a bit better from an attack of yak flu, we spent the day between 3 very lovely parks (Bei Hai, Zhongshan and the last one we can’t remember the name).
Looking down upon the Forbidden City
August 26-27, 2009 – Day 244-245 – Beijing, China
A work day and a sick day, respectively. Lin has contracted what Dr. Saben believes is the dreaded yak flu (oh my!) and has remained unconscious for nearly 24 hours. Meanwhile Saben, shedding his doctoral duties, spent the same 24 hours deliriously wandering the streets of Beijing in search of a Bank of China into which he intended to deposit the funds for our upcoming Tibet tour. After nearly 4 hours, he returned to the hostel, psychologically tattered and suffering a mild case of PTSD as a result. For a light dinner to soothe the pain, he enjoyed a large piece of cow and a cold beer.
The cow (or part of it, which part? I'm not quite sure)
August 25, 2009 – Day 244 – Beijing, China
Hundreds upon hundreds of tourists flood the gates of the Forbidden City once they has rushed through Tinananmen Square behind their shouting tour guide wildly waving a flag or umbrella (or contraption of both affixed together).
Iconic Mao portrait
August 23-24, 2009 – Day 242-243 – Beijing, China
Yesterday was a boring day for posting. Only exciting thing to happen was that we discovered we had bought tickets for the soft sleeper bullet train to Beijing despite our numerous pleas for “hard sleeper.” Granted it was a really, really nice train and it got us to Beijing in only 10 speedy hours.
Ahh now thats more like it
August 22, 2009 – Day 241 – Shanghai, China
Through the splattering of fat rain drops descending upon our heads, we still managed to have a good time dodging the crowds at the “antiques” market (tourist market with overpriced souvenirs and trinkets, very few antiques, and huge crowds) next to Yuyuan Gardens.
Stuck in the downpour
August 20-21, 2009 – Day 239-240 – Shanghai, China
Well, we spent the 20th on the train to Shanghai arriving to Shanghai the morning of the 21st. We were starving and had just found a great place for breakfast when it started to rain. By the time we crossed the street it had started a surprise storm, with big raindrops falling like no tomorrow. We flat out ran back to the hostel, about 10 minutes away, and were utterly drenched by the time we returned. We rode out the fast-moving storm for a couple of hours and spent the afternoon beginning our exploration of the huge city that is Shanghai.
Nice colorful bridge
Originally, we had only planned on Hong Kong being a visa stop, but it turned out to be a really lovely place to spend a couple of weeks. It was insanly useful for taking care of our Chinese visa (twice) and it was also a good “work” location giving us some time to give the website a face lift.
We really enjoyed Hong Kong and while it probably wasn’t very interesting to read about it, provided us with a nice rest before jumping head first into China.
(Hong Kong photos will be included in the China Photo Gallery)
August 19, 2009 – Day 238 – Hong Kong
It’s our last day in Hong Kong and since we are about to go stir crazy being inside the entire week, we wanted to get out and see the last little bit of Hong Kong that we could! So we went to see the city from Victoria Peak, the purported highest scenic point in all of Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong
August 15-19, 2009 – Day 233-237 – Hong Kong
Well, as you all know, we were without access to our blog for the entire time we were in China. We have been working furiously for the past four days to update the site and catch everything up so that if we can not access the site in China for another month, you will still get some schedule new posts. So we have been working like mad to bring you this fantastic content!
August 11-14, 2009 – Day 229-232 – Chengdu, China
Spent two days resting our weary legs and working on our Tibet plan. Then the next two days on a train to Hong Kong via Shenzhen, China. Still no luck finding a group for Tibet.
Yeah, It's kind of like that.
Taxi Rides = 123
Boat Rides = 35
Motorcycle Rides = 10
Plane Rides = 16
Bus Rides =330
Train Rides = 124
Rickshaw Rides = 98
Truck Bed Rides = 25
Rainy Days = 42
Current Rummy Score
Lin 10950, Saben 12435
