beijing

i just got back from beijing, so here is an update from my trip...

the train ride from shanghai to beijing was sooo nice! spending the extra money on a soft sleeper was the best idea ever. trains leave in the evening, and have you at your destination bright and early. much easier than taking a plane even though its farther because you get to sleep the entire time. we got even luckier when we were able to check into our hotel (the grand hyatt) right when we got there. this is all thanks to pat, jordan's boyfriend, so another huge thank you to him for hooking us up with all of this :) we had a room with two seperate bed rooms and baths. so at least for the first night, i had an entire california king all to myself, and got to eat pancakes in the morning... it was heaven. espeically after an entire month of noodles and street food. i also got to eat my first salad since leaving, i about died.

our first day of sight seeing took us to the forbidden city. we ended up getting a tour guide which was a great idea, because i had no idea what i was looking at. it was also only a 15 minute walk from our hotel, so we were right in the middle of everything. the most exciting thing for me to see though is the huge portrait of mao looking over tianenmen square. since thats usually the first thing you see on the nightly news whenever they talk about china, i took about 10 pictures of it, haha. we ended there for the evening, and then the next day we went and visited the beijing zoo. it was a lot nicer and cleaner than i thought it would be, but of course it wasnt as nice as any zoo you would find in america. im sure they have begun to clean it up due to the amount of people that will be visiting for the olympics. after that we went to see the olympic buildings, the national staduim and the aquatics center. it was very busy with tourists but we were able to get close and take pictures. for our third day of sight seeing, our friend stephanie's mom was able to get us a driver to take us to the great wall. we took up a gondala, which was the best 50 kuai ive ever spent because there was no way i was going to climb up the HUGE hill, and then walk the great wall. our goal was to walk/hike/climb all the way to the top tower. it was the best workout ever, but im so glad that i wont be doing it again anytime soon. it was really worth while though. after the great wall, we found the best thing ive found in china yet... the silk market. i walked in and immediately found designer jeans, real ones, for twenty dollars. you have to barter with them, but if you buy a lot and speak chinese, two things i did, you get a much better price. i was in shopping and knock off heaven. in the end, beijing treated me very well and i came away with toned legs and lots of clothing.

i would like to comment on one thing though... beijing's infrastrucure is ready for the olympics, but i do not believe that the people are. i came to find out that the locals are not even excited about it after speaking with a few of them. i think that the huge, huge influx of foreiners in a city where they are already not as accepting as other cities, and not used to seeing that many will encounter many problems. it is also sad to see the new resturants and shopping malls built for the games completely empty. i know that they will be full in a few weeks, but what happens after they all leave? it was really interesting to get a first hand account for what beijing is now like right before the olympics. all of the street signs are brand new, along with the fancy jeep police cars were a surprise.

anyways, thats my little tangent about beijing. im sure ive missed a few things but im exhausted and about to take another nap. i miss all of you and ill be home in about three weeks... crazy huh?

em