Special thanks to Zak for allowing me to guest post on his travel blog.

I am in day 7, China. What an experience!  Last weekend, Zak and I took a bullet train (a first for me) to the coastal city of Qingdao.  This city was inhabited by a large German community in the early 1900’s and today still boasts a core Bavarian town with very European buildings, churches and a brewery which currently produces the PRC’s Tsing Tao beer.  I liked the beer, much to my surprise and used the two beer coupons provided by our hostel, wasting not a drop.

Today, Zak and I took, 2 subways lines, one express bus and one negotiated car ride out to one of the Great Wall of China sites outside of Beijing. I was totally amazed to hear my son negotiating in fluent Mandarin (he says it isn’t fluent but he sure sounded just like the car driver) , going back and forth on price, pretending to walk away before arriving at an agreement that he thought was fair. It was a gorgeous winter day, temps around 6 degrees Celsius (40 degrees Fahrenheit) and blues skies. Because it is winter and after Chinese New Year, when everyone here in China takes vacation, we had the wall almost to ourselves. It was amazing to stand there and think about the history. What a rough life for both the builders and soldiers who were stationed along it. As we walked along its course we came upon a few intrepid peddlers who hiked their goods up the very steep (several hundred feet) of staircase we just climbed to reach the wall from the parking lot. One of them was selling Snickers! So Zak and I had to buy and eat one each in honor of Grandpa Wobbe. This one was for you Dad!

Yesterday, I took one bus and 3 subway lines all by myself to see Tiananmen Square and the attached Forbidden City. Very proud I was. I wondered if Zak worried about me while he was at work? Anyway, Tiananmen Square is OK but the Forbidden City was really wonderful. It is quite large and very beautiful, and quite a bargain for only 40 Yuan (about $7 US). Did the audio tour (recommend it) and had my first experiences of people asking to take a picture with the laowai (foreigner). One group consisted of about 7 young men of approx junior high age who all crowded round grinning while one of them took 2 pics (always 2) and then he jumped in the pic while someone else took 2 more. Speaking of pictures, my camera battery depleted after about 9 pics and I was able to nurse it along if I let it rest until it was finally exhausted, thus I have only a handful of pics for that day.

After I finished there I decided to venture a bit further and went 3 more subway stops down the line to the Temple of Heaven which was a beautiful temple in the round, different from the other temples I had seen.

In previous days, Zak and I visited the Lama Temple and the Drum Tower and Bell Tower and walked along some of the Hutongs (small, old time neighborhood courtyards), doing a little shopping where I am sure I bought an ancient ceramic statue…., and tried double skinned yogurt with mango on top – so Yummy! Tori, we need to learn to make this!! I have also enjoyed the baozi buns and soon we will try for some Peking Duck. Zak has only a hotplate in his apt so we eat out every night at neighborhood places, purchasing a whole meal for 2 for about $2.50 each, so far have not been disappointed. I have remained quite healthy so far and Zak continues to make fun of me for not using the tap water to brush my teeth but I continue to ignore him and remain happily without GI issues.

The sites and sounds are such a mixture. Lots of buses and cars mixed with innumerable bicycles and rickshaws and little, 3 wheel bike/trucks for lack of a better word (most of them appear on the verge of collapse). The smells are many and varied. Some more pungent than others, like the little piles of baby doo left in the street gutters. Babies here wear no diapers, just pants with slits up the back and when nature calls they are squatted in the street with their pants pulled wide to allow for the call of nature – no wipes or diapers, which if you think about a country of 2 billions people, I can’t imagine where they would pile that much refuse. All of the babies and toddlers here are soooo cute! Some of the nicer smells consist of sweet potatoes baking in barrels on the street corners, and the delicious food scents wafting from all of the small, mom and pop restaurants that line most of the larger streets.

Still to come in Beijing is a visit to Zak’s school to tell a cute tale of teacher Zak and a visit to Chairman Mao and of course, Peking Duck. Hopefully, also some shopping at the silk district, although, Zak never seems to work up much enthusiasm for shopping, may have to wait til I am with T to get my shop on, I know I can count on her shopping spirit. Friday, Zak and I board the night train for Wuhan where we meet up with Tori and spend a couple of days together. These will be my happiest of Chinese days.