I've been on vacation for over a week now, and I think I've eaten at home less than a handful times.

I first flew to Nanjing, and then headed over to Yangzhou via car the next day to meet up with my parents, and grandparents, and various cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Then there were Chinese New Years, where we ate, listened to other people setting off fireworks, played cards and mahjong, wandered the streets, shopped, kareoke'd, ate some more, went to some scenic spots, went to a public bath house (very interesting, but a separate story), and ate even more (including hotpot, a favourite).

Now I'm back in Nanjing. Yesterday we went to a plum flower festival. Imagine an entire mountain of plum trees, all of which were covered in flowers or buds about to blossom. There were white, pink, red, crimson, and some green blanketing the mountain and the valley. Quite beautiful.

Now I have nothing to do until Wednesday, when I leave for a three day jaunt in Tokyo.

Today we climbed the Great Wall of China. But we didn't go to the tourist trap of Badaling. Instead, we hired a driver, went all the way to Jinshanlin (金山岭) - an almost 2 hour drive - and hiked all the way to Simatai (司马台), which took about 3 hours, and was quite treacherous. There were a lot of steep ups and downs, and the wall was completely unkept in many parts of the hike.

All in all, I'm glad that we didn't go the tourist trap route.

Labels: Beijing, Great Wall, travel

Overstock.com: when you can't make money, sue.

Washington State: Initiative to define marriage as strictly for procreation (in response of the state supreme court's last ruling on gay marriage).

Labels: craziness, misc

Walking around Beijing these past couple of days has made me realize that now is not a good time to visit. Aside from the fact that it's winter, and there are no leaves on the trees, nor grass on the ground, a lot of historical places are under renovation in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. For example, one of the main halls (中和殿) at the Forbidden City was closed, so was the main one at the Summer Palace. I think the best time would be shortly after the Olympics are over, when everyone has left, and all the places are open.

Aside from that, I rode the subway a lot today, and noticed two peculiarities. First of all, they have heated seats. This is way cool (when it works, one train had a working one, one did not). Another is that they have displays in the tunnel in between stations. They're spaced apart at the right intervals, and lit up so that when the train goes by, you see a little animated ad. I had this same idea many years ago when I got bored staring at the walls in the Toronto subway. I'm glad someone implemented this.

Today, I finally got to see the Chairman. It's actually pretty anti-climactic. There's this huge building built for him, you can't bring in bags or cameras (you have to check them at a building across the street), and there are huge lines. You can buy a flower for him for 3 RMB, and everyone just silently files across, always kept at a 15 feet distance from the encasement.

I also visited some other sites today, including the old Summer Palace ruins (圆明园), the real Summer Palace (颐和园, probably a better place to visit when it's actually summer), and a temple that's just a museum for bells (大钟寺). It's been a long day, and now my feet hurt.

Labels: Beijing, travel

On Saturday I slept in, had some dimsum, and then headed to go see Mao's memorial (nothing like seeing a dead Chairman in a glass case). Unfortunately, because of the sleeping in, by the time I got there, the Mao-soleum was closed (they close at 11:30 am). So I had to settle for the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is gigantic. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes if you ever visit. It took me about three hours of walking around, and I still couldn't get everywhere (one thing I missed was the nine dragons wall). But I did manage to grab a Starbucks coffee at the Forbidden Store.



Later, I saw the guards take down the flag in Tiananmen square. It was a long wait, with a lot of people crowded around the flag staff. It was quite elaborate, and I guess they do it everyday.

After all that walking and standing around, hunger was hitting me big time. So I ended up at nearby 王府井 (WangFuJing) and had some dinner there. Now I have to plan where I'm going today.

Labels: Beijing, Forbidden City, Starbucks, travel