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Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!

a travel blog by prrrrl

Business trip to Beijing with fun stuff in the evenings/weekends in the good company of my pal, RL.

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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.

permalink 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!
tagged Ruins, Fence and Preservation
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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!

    permalink 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!
    tagged Food and Squid
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    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!

    permalink 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!
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    Comments are disappearing

    Beijing, China

    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. :-/

    permalink written by  prrrrl on February 23, 2012 from Beijing, China
    from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!
    tagged Blogabond, Email, Comments and LostComments
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    Test Step

    Beijing, China

    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. :-/

    permalink written by  prrrrl on February 25, 2012 from Beijing, China
    from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!
    tagged Dance, Salsa, Ballroom and Proficiency
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    Bad is unusual

    Beijing, China

    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!

    permalink written by  prrrrl on February 25, 2012 from Beijing, China
    from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!
    tagged Restaurant, Rare, Hungry and Wait
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    Want to see where I'm staying?

    Beijing, China

    Google: yonghegong haina hotel, beijing, china

    Zoom in on the alleys. Not all show up as some are only as wide as a sidewalk.

    permalink written by  prrrrl on February 28, 2012 from Beijing, China
    from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!
    tagged Alley, Zoom, Hutong and YonghegongHainaHotel
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    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.

    permalink written by  prrrrl on March 3, 2012 from Shuhe, China
    from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!
    tagged Shopping, Mall, Signs, Lijiang, SilkRoad and TeaHorseRoad
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    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.

    permalink written by  prrrrl on March 3, 2012 from Lijiang, China
    from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!
    tagged Bus, Mini, Passenger, Full, Last, Bench and Squeeze
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    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.

    permalink written by  prrrrl on March 3, 2012 from Lijiang, China
    from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!
    tagged Naxi, Canal, Restaurant, Alley, Yak, Friends, Lijiang, Barbecue and Cheese
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