The GREAT Wall!
Today we visited one of the two man-made objects
that can be seen from space - the great wall, extending 6000 miles... can you
name the other one?
It was cold!
We also did a huge buffet for dinner, and I visited a western bar... long day.
It was cold!
We also did a huge buffet for dinner, and I visited a western bar... long day.
Badaling
Wall
More lessons in scale... this is one of the two man-made objects that can be seen from space - the great wall, extending 6000 miles...
Can you say crenelated?
We had some new traveling companions today.. Miss Emily and Mr. Barry. They are friends of Alex, also very nice.
The usual suspects were along too, Alex, Blaine, Humphrey, and Jian Hua. Humphrey is a postdoc candidate at Tianjin University - doing calculations for protein folding - he's in bioinformatics, this is a very hot area at present. It's great chatting with him. He brought his laptop along so he and Alex could play international chess in the hired mini-van... that lasted about 5 minutes as Humphrey gets car sick. (Alex is a very strong player, nationals calibre when in high school).
When we arrived in Badaling, it was COLD! and WINDY! and cold... Cold, cold, colder.
We are immediately assaulted by the vendors:
You buy scarf - cashmere!
You want hat - cashmere!
You want postcard - cashmere!
You like hat? We talked them down to $5... a bargain at any price.
We had hot drinks at the top. Phew. The vendors haul their entire booth up there every day... I don't think I can convey how hard that would be... but here's a shot of the path.
After descending, hands firmly on the rails as the gusts were trying to blow us right off, we went to the wall museum. It's across from the Badaling Starbucks, if you're trying to find it...
Tang anyone?
(No, that's not Starbucks, just a competitor.)
Monster seafood buffet... western prep, japanese sushi, indian dishes of abalone, crab, lobster, roasted meats, most everything you can imagine. The cost? $20 per person... we tried really hard not to binge.
After dinner, Alex and I went to a bar for westerners... that was interesting, after 4 or 5 very precisely measured drinks, it was clear that they were watered down... thank goodness. I honestly have no pictures... honestly.
Tracy did not come to the bar :-( where do we buy cold medicine?
More lessons in scale... this is one of the two man-made objects that can be seen from space - the great wall, extending 6000 miles...
Can you say crenelated?
We had some new traveling companions today.. Miss Emily and Mr. Barry. They are friends of Alex, also very nice.
The usual suspects were along too, Alex, Blaine, Humphrey, and Jian Hua. Humphrey is a postdoc candidate at Tianjin University - doing calculations for protein folding - he's in bioinformatics, this is a very hot area at present. It's great chatting with him. He brought his laptop along so he and Alex could play international chess in the hired mini-van... that lasted about 5 minutes as Humphrey gets car sick. (Alex is a very strong player, nationals calibre when in high school).
When we arrived in Badaling, it was COLD! and WINDY! and cold... Cold, cold, colder.
We are immediately assaulted by the vendors:
You buy scarf - cashmere!
You want hat - cashmere!
You want postcard - cashmere!
You like hat? We talked them down to $5... a bargain at any price.
We had hot drinks at the top. Phew. The vendors haul their entire booth up there every day... I don't think I can convey how hard that would be... but here's a shot of the path.
After descending, hands firmly on the rails as the gusts were trying to blow us right off, we went to the wall museum. It's across from the Badaling Starbucks, if you're trying to find it...
Tang anyone?
(No, that's not Starbucks, just a competitor.)
Monster seafood buffet... western prep, japanese sushi, indian dishes of abalone, crab, lobster, roasted meats, most everything you can imagine. The cost? $20 per person... we tried really hard not to binge.
After dinner, Alex and I went to a bar for westerners... that was interesting, after 4 or 5 very precisely measured drinks, it was clear that they were watered down... thank goodness. I honestly have no pictures... honestly.
Tracy did not come to the bar :-( where do we buy cold medicine?
Posted: Sat - January 6, 2007 at 04:33 PM
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Published On: Jul 13, 2007 05:14 PM
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Published On: Jul 13, 2007 05:14 PM