Saturday hiking photos from outside of Beijing
April 9th, 2011
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Jenn and Reid visit Beijing
April 4th, 2011
Last August Craig arrived for a sixteen day visit. We enjoyed ourselves. September welcomed Suzy and her one week stay. The time flew by, the space we stayed in seemed small. We enjoyed ourselves and visited new places that Craig did not experience. During the Chinese new Year, Ari came over for a week and then left after four days. He saw important tourist sites and enjoyed his quick trip across the world. Now I describe my most recent visitors and their most amazing week in Beijing:
This is an email I sent to Reid and Jenn. It has been slightly edited and pasted here:
Your trip included six full days plus the first Saturday night. Your schedule included the following:
Saturday night arrival – Midnight taxi ride from PEK airport to Taiyue Suites that took less than 30 minutes. We dropped your bags in your apartment suite then headed across the street to have a quick dinner consisting of tofu, greens, and small portion of meat. We spent less than $7 total ( I think) on the food.
Sunday morning we slept in until 9am before preparing for a normal Sunday hike to the mountains north of Beijing. We traveled by foot for 15 minutes to a subway which took us from line ten to line 8 underground where we came up for sunlight, a view of the 2008 Olympic stadiums, and a 12 minute walk to a hiking group meeting place. On our short walk from the apartment to the subway we stopped at a 7-11 and picked up local breakfast foods that we shared on the walk. We waited for a pair of German friends (Felix & Janna) who met us at the subway for the travel to the hike and the hike itself.Some of the items included hard boiled eggs, chicken, some other meat, and tofu. Once we arrived for the hiking meet-up we met friends, realized that our mountain hike would include a section of the Great Wall (Black Dragon Mountain.) You met Yan Ma, Jiannan Zhang (from Plano) plus many others. One cute couple of doctors gave us a ride after dinner. Don’t forget the huge dinner and Reid purchased a long sleeved Playboy shirt. We went to sleep by 10pm I believe.
Monday (rest day) included a leisurely morning of oatmeal, hot tea, coffee, and showers! We got our nails did, a massage, ate lunch with Tracy, saw the Village, Ya Show, and then met Amara at the Village Starbucks before traveling by taxi to meet Justin for hot pot. After hot pot we met Crystal and friends at Joy City for KTV(Karaoke) until midnight.
Tuesday, the three of us traveled by subway form Line 10 to Line 1 and to Tienan’men square, a museum, and then you two toured the Forbidden city and got HUNGRY. I met you both back at the Village area, across a street from 3.3 building, fed you a sandwich, introduced you to young Peggy, Chris from NY, then met Ying for Beijing duck. We made it to bed at a reasonable time.
Wednesday, we trekked with anticipation out to the Beijing zoo subway stop. We ate some serious street noodles, meat on a stick, egg something, then went inside the massive shopping mall for clothes, a purse, and lots of looking. With anticipation we then journeyed to Wudaokou for the night street market. After we arrived early we checked out some stores, a massage place, a Charlie Brown coffee shop, and some more street noodles. We also ate tacos and drank beer at La Bamba before heading back home without visiting the night street market. It did not happen that night.
Thursday we ate the egg pancakes on the street and taxi’d to Nanlouguoxiang – I left y’all for a Houhai, Goulou dajie, Nanlouguoxiang trifecta. You ate Shinjiang (Muslim) food in Houhai and did a bit of shopping. You took a rickshaw ride around Houhai where the driver pointed out homes of famous people. You checked out the bell tower also. Y’all taxi’d back and met Ping before we walked to the Chaoyang theater for the Acrobats show with Crystal. We ate some 7-11 food on the way to the wonderful performance. After the show we ate Hong Kong food at the Village.
Friday I left early for work at Shang Di. Y’all slept in and went (all by yourselves) to the Temple of Heaven on subway line 5. You ate fast food hot pot and then met me back at the Silk Market for a watch purchase as well as some souvenirs. We walked across the street to the original silk market for a Gortex jacket purchase before heading to Justin’s subway stop in the rain. We walked in the rain to meet Justin for a most wonderful dinner that included souvenir beer glasses and more Beijing duck. After dinner y’all went home to pack.
Saturday at 5:35am you left for the airport.
The apartment was tight but not cramped. We made it work. Y’all walked, traveled by subway, taxi, and private car. You ate many different foods. You negotiated prices for many different items. You learned how to WALK AWAY. You navigated the subway system alone. You made new friends and (hopefully) realized that you’ll be back here. You learned a few Chinese words.
Remember- WALK AWAY- The price always drops when you WALK AWAY.
Spring in Beijing
March 21st, 2011
I returned home to Beijing a little more than a week ago after a fourteen stay in Las Vegas and San Francisco.
The time on the West coast of the US flew by. I could have cut the trip short a few days as I began missing my wonderful Beijing life. My mother flew and spent my first two days in Las Vegas with me. I spent some time with friends in Las Vegas. I dined at a variety of restaurants that included Italian food, steak, Chilean sea bass, a breakfast spread meant for royalty, and McDonalds. The weekend between my two work engagements included a quick trip to San Francisco. There, I visited Geneva, my new friend from my SFO to AUS plane ride on October 14. I also saw two very old friends from high school, Alex and Beth. As always, I stayed with Julie, my sister from another mother and spent time with her and her wonderful friends.
The weather in late March in Beijing now allows for me to leave the long underwear, scarf, hat, and gloves in the closet….finally! I have adjusted to a long and constant cold period but on March 22, I am ready to think about wearing shorts. My circle of friends continues to evolve. I continue adding new folks as Beijing always has people coming and going. I continue to strengthen my relationships and learn about the culture here. I never tire of the education that I continue to get about the differences among the different cultures in Beijing. Of course we have many similarities and we also have a wide range of differences. I discover new things practically daily that show differences in western and eastern folks. The amount of work required to reach certain levels of intimacy between westerners and westerners and between easterners and westerners is tremendously different. I meet and make friends much easier than the average. I’ve always been that way.
This week I’ve started to accept even more differences in the cultures.
Las Vegas update
February 26th, 2011
My mother arrived at the airport two hours ago for her flight back to Houston. I arrived in Las Vegas 48 hours ago. This morning I slept in til nearly 9am Las Vegas time. I feel extremely accomplished for that feat. Yesterday I made it to about 6am after going to sleep around 9pm Thursday night. My adventure from Beijing to Las Vegas included very little excitement. I slept on the plane, looked at “The Town,” “Secretariat,” and an episode of “Mad Men.” The gentleman sitting next to me only breathed his less than pleasant breath on me for part of the flight.
The largest difference between this trip and the one in October was that I did not require a wheelchair. That trip occurred only 2 days after my bicycle/ van collision. I enjoyed some good food, some relaxing activities, and a bit of sightseeing with my mother in the two days that she stayed with me. We stayed at Treasure Island. We ate one meal at a steakhouse in the hotel, another one at Sinatra’s, and our breakfasts don’t even warrant writing about.
The weekend before my trip back to Las Vegas included a Saturday and a Sunday hiking trip. I believe that I will continue to hike with my Saturday folks regularly and only occasionally see the Sunday group. Two long days in a row every weekend for me appears to be a little much. I did make a few new friends on Sunday. I’ll see them all again… just not every weekend.
Tomorrow night (Sunday) I set-up for my first of two shows before picking Tony up from the airport. I hope to be on schedule by Monday morning. Based upon my last night’s sleep schedule I should be fine. The sixteen hour time difference does mess me up so I have enjoyed these last two most relaxing days. I look forward to today’s continued relaxing time.
Photos to follow…..
Saturday hiking? How about Sunday hiking?!
February 14th, 2011
Saturday in China turned out to be a work day because of the holiday. I missed my hiking like a crack addict misses his crack pipe. I found a fix! Sunday hiking group…… It’s similar to my Saturday group. They’ve been hiking a bit longer. I found out the the Saturday group split off from the Sunday group because a few people preferred to get out on a Saturday versus a Sunday. The best news of the whole thing is that I now have the option to go hiking every Saturday and/ or Sunday depending upon my mood and schedule. The folks welcomed me as one of their own almost immediately. I believe that these hiking groups will see to it that I never ever ever leave China for more than a few weeks at a time. Photos can be viewed from some of the Sunday scenery by clicking this link. We drove in the snow for nearly two hours to our destination. We arrived at a remote area near the Great Wall of China. The hike up the mountain to the wall took over an hour in the snow. The snow made the trek a bit more adventurous than normal. The trip down included a few short slips and only one short fall on the slippery trail.
articles that make me go hmmmmm
February 12th, 2011
We all receive the mass e mailings. Every so often I read an article sent my way. This one is one of those. I crave entertaining reading more than I used to now that my address reads Beijing, China. Each day I learn at least one new thing about Chinese culture. With each new friend I make and every relationship created, I continue to grow as a human being. I think about Max Spector, my old boss from my high school job. Max told me (when he was in his eighties) that he never stopped learning. Every day of Max’s life he learned at least one new thing. Max made it past ninety. I’ll always miss him.
This article provides insight into some of the many many many differences between Chinese and western cultures. I’m not certain how many folks will understand it. It may be reserved for westerners who spend a considerable amount of time in Asia.
Ari visits Beijing, China
February 8th, 2011
Ari’s trip was short and fairly full. My friend Ari and I first met way back in college when I was 18. We have stayed in touch ever since although he moved away from Austin for graduate school, residency, a job, more graduate school, more residency, a job, and then back to Dallas where he currently lives and works. Since I arrived in Beijing for good in late April 2010 many friends have shown interest in visiting. I welcome everyone. My adventures here never cease. Ari’s work slows a bit in February so he booked his flight and made his way across the globe. We enjoyed visiting the obligatory sites that include the Summer Palace (via subway) as well as Houhai. We also visited Nanluoguxiang Hutong, Tien’anmen square, at least one grocery store, a hospital, a pharmacy, Hooters, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a few other places. We enjoyed Beijing duck (in Beijing, China,) pulled noodles, fresh dumplings, Beijing beer, and some (out of this world) green beans called Ganbiandoujiao.
I believe that the ski lift cable car up to the Great Wall came in a close second to the toboggan ride down from the Great Wall for Ari. The trip to and from the Wall included three public buses, a subway, and a private car ride. Ari arrived during the Chinese New Year celebration. That means that many fireworks punctuated our evenings every night of his visit. Now… I am ready for my next visitor!
Justin’s birthday dinner
February 3rd, 2011
I nearly forgot…. January 22, 2011 three Texans and two lovely Chinese young ladies celebrated Justin’s birthday by having a traditional Chinese dinner.
The dinner occurred near the start of the Chinese new year celebration. Jonathan arrived at dinner after having spent several hours at an end of year work party with his co-workers. That means that Jonathan enjoyed spirits nearly all day and evening long. I arrived at Jonathan’s dinner fresh off a hiking group dinner which closely followed a beautiful afternoon of hiking with my most wonderful hiking group. Annie (in red scarf,) Justin’s young lady friend, and Amara, Justin’s flat mate also joined in the festivities.
Sanya trip January 2011
February 3rd, 2011
I accompanied a family to sunny Sanya China. I compare it to a Mexican city except everything is less expensive and the people are much more friendly.