Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up! - prrrrl
Business trip to Beijing with fun stuff in the evenings/weekends in the good company of my pal, RL.

Yuan Ming Yuan or Old Summer Palace
Beijing, China
They've fenced it off! The elaborate European style surviving archways and the clam fountain. No more thousands of feet climbing over the 250+ year old ruins. Good plan! I did enjoy climbing on the in the past but fencing off will preserve this historic site much better/longer.
written by  prrrrl on March 10, 2010 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!

Feed Me!!!!
Beijing, China
First meal: Hot Pot. A plate of something mammalian, stibbly* and slimy was brought to the table. I had asked for mushrooms, I thought, but my Chinese is rusty. I sent it back.
Might my new word make the dictionary in 2011??? It means piliated in my mind...
Second meal: garlic sprouts with pork and a tofu dish.
Third meal: pick your own boil. Somewhat similar to hot pot but they cook it for you. You choose from a refrigerator of skewered tofus, green leafy vegatables, squid arms, various unidentified meat balls, mushrooms, and even identifiable veggies such as broccoli and cauliflower. Spicy & good!
written by  prrrrl on March 10, 2010 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!

Tour Guide of the Year!
Beijing, China
That's what taking my friend to the gaudiest costumes for post Big Day bridal photos mall will get ya. Don't understand? Think many small shops carrying lens, cameras, reflectors, back drops, bags, tripods and such filling the first floor of a maze-like building that fills a quarter of a city block. Then imagine walking upstairs and seeing plaid Marie Antoinette ruffled and hatch-laced costumes for eight year old girls, stores that sell black angel wings and make up displays with deep oranges, bright yellows and vivid reds out numbering the flesh-tones, looping ribbons over sequin bodices atop poofy skirts all in one gown... Ah, Chinese aesthetics!
written by  prrrrl on March 11, 2010 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!

Comments are disappearing
People are leaving comments - all two of them! Cool! But I can't find them anymore. :-( What's with Blogabond?? If you need to contact me, best use my email address. Don't know it? Sorry, don't feel like sharing it here on a public site. Just be aware I'm not ignoring you, I just can't get back to the comments for some reason. :-/
written by  prrrrl on February 23, 2012 from Beijing, China

Test Step
I bought new dance shoes here. They got their first test run last night at a weekly ballroom dance. Good thing I like Salsa as I think that's the only dance I'll find at a high level here. A bit surprised at that - the low proficiency of the other dances, I mean. Did I say that out loud???
Remember, I cannot take comments here as hoped. You'll have to scrounge up my regurlar email address. :-/
written by  prrrrl on February 25, 2012 from Beijing, China

Bad is unusual
Usually my restaurant experiences in China are great. Service is usually great [even back in the days of transitioning away from the communist system towards free markets - man, do I have some stories to tell from back then!]. Food is usually great even at low end establishments. Last night was truly the exception. I order three dishes. Two showed up within the usual 10 -15 minute time frame. The reataurant was very busy so I understood the wait for the last dish. But after 40 minutes I called the wait staff over. They put the order in a second time. I waited again. Finally the floor manager came over to see why my last dish had not arrived now over an hour after first ordering. I waited a third time. Still nothing. For the first time ever in a Chinese eatery I walked to the desk and said enough! I paid for the two & left still hungry at 1:20am. So rare in China!
written by  prrrrl on February 25, 2012 from Beijing, China

Want to see where I'm staying?
Google: yonghegong haina hotel, beijing, china
Zoom in on the alleys. Not all show up as some are only as wide as a sidewalk.

Quaint shopping mall
Shuhe, China
Shuhe is touted as the quieter Lijiang. I suppose it is but as I don't wander Lijiang's Old Town in the afternoon or evening I don't see the crowds that are so dense, passage is difficult. Shuhe is one of three remaining cities that dotted the Tea Horse Road [I think also called the southern Silk Road]. I was disappointed to find that it was a touristy open air shopping mall, buildings still lovely if they could be seen behind the signs, lights, banners and products. I suppose it's better than it being torn down in the quest for modernization.
written by  prrrrl on March 3, 2012 from Shuhe, China

Not waiting for the bus
Lijiang, China
Mini vans, and I mean Smart Car size mini, wait at depots and will not leave until full. There will be a line of maybe 8 vans waiting their turn to wait for 7 passengers. I arrive at the depot and am fortunate to be passenger #7 meaning immediate departure. Bonus is as the last person in I don't have to squeeze into the narrow back row and I get to be the first one out. The front passenger seat is probably the the first seat taken as it is also easy in, easy out. But they have the longest wait. I'm happy to be the last in the front bench seat. This is how I got to and from Shuhe from Lijiang. My return journey I was also passenger #7 [not counting lap children]. Only 33 cents.
written by  prrrrl on March 3, 2012 from Lijiang, China

Rat in maze test 4: FAIL!
Lijiang, China
I found the street with restaurants! I made a mental note of where to find the alley that lead to them. Later I suggested to some friends I made at the hostel that we should go for 'barbecue' as that's the local specialty. [Note to US southerners: But do they use vinegar???] They agreed. Two Americans, a Canadian, an Austrian and a Chinese go to dinner. I find the alley that I remember. We walk a ways but don't see any restaurants. We back track to the main alley and continue west. We come to the main square [Market Square complete with a plaque explaining why an odd shaped public space is called a square lest a mathematical object]. Ack! We've gone too far. I was right the first time. We opt to be bold and wander down a new alley that hugs one of the small canals that stripe the city.
We sample deep fried Naxi cheese [it has sugar sprinkled on top], Naxi stewed vegetables, barbecue fish [no vinegar, no tomato based sauce - sacrilege!], Naxi tofu, Naxi crispy yak with mint and other dishes. Apparently here barbecue means salted & dried.
written by  prrrrl on March 3, 2012 from Lijiang, China

Breakfast Bonanza!
It's so popular I can't get any service. It's a breakfast restaurant with indoor seating, hard to find, and it serves many more breakfast options than most. Usually a breakfast place offers only a few things. This places serves fried sticks (a fave of my kids but an unsweetened greasy donut does not appeal to me), tofu soup (another that does not suite my taste buds), stuffed buns (too doughy), dumplings (yum!), millet porridge (bland but not objectionable), pickled radish (okay in tiny amounts), tea eggs (I've eaten lots of these this trip), tofu jelly with sauce (the Beijing smokey flavor I try to avoid) and wonton soup (great breakfast with lots of little shrimp eyes looking up at you before you eat them). I've written (hunt & peck) most of this after ordering twice and before receiving any food. That's busy!
written by  prrrrl on October 2, 2013 from Beijing, China

Eight by Nine
I'm a happy clam! Or should I say mussel since it is their product I'm here to buy. The hostel up-graded me to a two person dorm from a six person dorm - big improvement! And better yet, the other bed is empty giving me a private room. For the time being. There have been nights where I woke up with more roommates then then I went to bed with the night before. (Please don't read that the wrong way!). I can crank down the AC (mostly to rid the room of excess moisture), I don't have to share the bathroom with anyone and I don't have to be super quiet day or night (the lad I thought was going to be my roommate ignored his morning alarm forcing me to zip, wad and Groom a la the proverbial mouse). I've got 5 days here. How long can I enjoy the solitary??
(Comments don't always show up. Want to tell me something? Email my regular address.)
written by  prrrrl on October 3, 2013 from Beijing, China

Salt air!
Xingcheng, China
We had traveled by bus, train, subway, several types of motorized pedicabs, taxi, bench seat bike, foot and now ferry. It was a slow ride to the island that was faded in polluted-view but not far off shore. I mistakenly purchased the all inclusive ticket which would take us by bus around the island to three sites of interest to Buddhists and sinophiles. Though RJ leans towards the former, for him one old red tile-roofed building looks like all the other old red tile-roofed buildings. We skip the pre-paid tour and take the advice of an Aussie dude and his companions suggested: a small fishing village on a small beach. The pre-paid tour does get us the short distance to the other side of the island on the local bus. A very short walk brings us to the shore. The fishing vessels look heavily weathered as if abandoned but apparently not as we see several in active use. Then I spot a old favorite: rocks along the shore perfect for climbing on. We pass locals gouging oyster-like mollusks, dislodging the top shell, harvesting the meat and leaving the bottom glued barnacle-like to the rocks. Low tide is what reveals their quarry. The un-seaworthy looking boats put on the water make a pretty sight with their red Chinese flags flapping in the breeze.
We climb the bank towards a road when we are surprised by a donkey. Or did we surprise it? Its ears were standing straight up as it stared intently at us. Is it tethered? Is it territorial? We're to far to determine the former and too cautious to test the latter. We proceed slowly with jackets in hand to swing at it if necessary. But not necessary. We follow the road back to the village and are pleasantly surprised to find a restaurant overlooking the little bay. Seafood with a view!
It's not tropical Philippines. It's not primitive Borneo. It's not fascinating Kenyan coast. It's not picturesque Bali. It's not perfect Thailand. It's not gorgeous Samoa. But it is a nice day trip off the gray, dusty mainland.
Now if only we had a cart to hitch to that donkey to add to our list of transports...
(Please send comments to my regular email. Thanks!)
written by  prrrrl on October 3, 2013 from Xingcheng, China

Children and dogs...
On the subway I started playing peek-a-boo with a curious toddler sitting one lap over. What else would I do when a small child stares at my blue eyes and then covers their brown beauties. But this game did not end well. I smiled upon reappearing from behind my hands. He cried. Scary foreign ghost!
In Xingcheng I took an early morning solo stroll down modern city allies to the ancient city wall. I made it inside before the kitschy shops opened and the noisy crowds gathered - ah, peace! Down one what we might call an alley but in Ming Dynasty China was a real street a local canine was waiting at its gate for re-admittance. My legs were just another early morning stroller's legs. Panting and waiting. Waiting and panting. But then pooch looked up. It saw my big nose (I think dogs are color blind so we can't blame my blue eyes). It panicked, reared up and pounded its front paws on the gate of wait. The gate popped open and the pooch ran for the safety if its owner's courtyard.
Children and dogs cry or flea at my visage. Aren't I special.
written by  prrrrl on October 4, 2013 from Beijing, China

Useful!
Hiking poles sure are handy. They are probably good for hiking, too. This trip the only action they've seen is reaching for shoes deep under the bed and closing windows too high to reach. Not sure it's been worth carrying them from the US and all through Liaoning. Oh, well...

Morning Surprises?
I sure hope there are no caterpillars under my pillow tonight.
I use my clean clothes wadded up under the hostel's thin pillow to raise it to a comfortable height. My clean clothes dry on clotheslines on the Terrace. The Terrace is populated with fuzzy caterpillars. I picked 7 or 8 of my clean clothes before wadding them up. Don't want squashed caterpillars on my outfit tomorrow!

Jade!
We left NC on Thursday; we arrived in China Friday. Sunday morning we were still both jet lagged. What to do at 5am? Dirt market! There is a weekend flea/dirt market of many decades history on the south east side. It's grown very touristy in recent years and the Prospect of finding an authentic antique are increasingly slim. But what else to do at that early weekend hour? Dawn barely Broken, we head for the subway. It used to be that one had to get to the dirt market by 5am to snag the best deals. We arrived just after 6 and very little was yet set up. We wandered as venders unpacked. RJ being an antiques dealer I thought this place would interest him.
I didn't plan to find anything but did! Ancient pieces of jade that used to be bracelets, fracture plains filed smooth, with holes drilled at mid-point or end. I'll have a dozen unique pieces to add to my collection very soon. dRt cHc* to rise again!!
While working these unique pieces into my designs I drop one. It Broke. My supplier tried to file the edges of what the became earring dangles (and they look good!) but being high on the Mohls scale jade, it ruined her file!
dRt cHc is my line of high end, exclusive, one of a kind and rare jewelry pieces.

Sitting Pretty and Not Loving It
Before moving to China I read an observer's assessment that the Chinese could not make a comfortable chair. So true! I'm currently dining at a restaurant with great atmosphere but clumsy furniture. The decorative wooden drop frame means I can hardly pull up to the table as my legs can barely fit under. The cross bars on the front of the chair just two inches from the floor mean I can not pull my heels back in order to let my thighs drop giving me more clearance under the drop frame. Pretty, yes. Practical, no.
I did not pick this restaurant for the ambience but for the street view. When dining solo people watching is fun.

Ouch!
I just got body-slammed trying to get off the subway car. There is no sense of letting exitors go first on subways or elevators. People rushing in/on might block one's egress so aggressiveness is common.