Beijing

Spent two days in Beijing with 4 friends from work.

We stayed in a hostel. Very inexpensive room.

We saw the Great Wall. It was below freezing, and very windy. I climbed a small section and got some good pictures.

We had Peking duck for dinner one night. Peking is the old name for Beijing.

We also visited the Forbidden City, which was huge,  Tiananmen Square, the Birds Nest and the Water Cube from the Olympics.

It was a good way to end my China odyssey.

Birthday in China

I had 2 cakes and 2 celebrations for my birthday this year.

The school had the pink cake which was shared with the staff.

The white cake was brought to dinner by a friend and was for myself, and my roommate whose birthday was the 9th.  Because that evening got off to a late start, due to the restaurant forgetting some food (mine), we postponed bowling until last night.

It was a good celebration.

Its not a great picture of me. It was at the end of a long day. I was tired, and I needed a beard trim.

Qufu - Birthplace of Confucius

We took the bullet train to Qufu to see the birthplace of Confucius. The train went about 180 mph, and was very quiet and comfortable. The lady who sold us the tickets for the day trip sold us tickets for a return 2 days later. It was the last train home, and no one but the crew was on board. They let us swap the tickets so we could get home the same day.

It ended up being a longer day than was necessary, but it was interesting.

Ten Thousand Buddha Mountain

We had nice weather for our trip to Buddha mountain.  I went with my roommate and a couple of other people from the apartments. We didn't go into the cave with all the Buddhas. It was an additional fee, and no one was interested. We saw a couple of other Buddhas, and of course, the big golden Buddha.

I had my first haircut in China, and while the barber did a good cut on my head, when I thought he was going to trim my beard, he started buzzing it off. Luckily, he started with my side burns. They won't take too long to grow in. Coming to the end of time off. Back to classes next Thursday.

I got a Chinese fan with a painting of a dragon on the back.

First sighting of the golden Buddha as you reach the top of the mountain

Company Outing/Climb a Mounatain

Today we went to a local park to climb a mountain, and have lunch.
There were stairs to help with the climb up, but it was a LOT of stairs. I made it about 3/4s of the way up, and then stopped.

After climbing down, we had lunch at a restaurant in the park. The food was passable, nothing too exciting.

I got some good pictures.

Chinese noodles, dancing ladies, and forced togetherness

Had my first bowl of Chinese noodle soup at a little hole in the wall (literally) near my apartment. Lamb, noodles, something that tasted like, but didn't look like spinach. It was a huge, bowl, and very inexpensive.
Every night there are a group of ladies who gather across from the entrance to the apartments, and play dance music and dance, even though they are mostly in the dark.

We have a group outing planned for Wednesday. I didn't really want to go, because its early in the morning, its in a park, its back to being hot, and its on a day off, but since everyone will be going, I will too. Luckily I have tomorrow (Tuesday) and Thursday off as well.

No time to post

Sorry for the lack of a post, but between teaching all weekend, having to take a medical exam Monday, and doing a few little things around the apartment, I didn't have time to travel. Have another full weekend coming up, but plan to sight-see Tuesday.

I'm interested in going to see the "Thousand Buddha Mountain, and hopefully I can do that Tuesday. I will do a complete post, including pictures when I get back.

Hope everyone is well, and enjoying this little blog.

XO

***Edit*** Trip postponed due to rain.