Beijing

Beijing was a great time.  I had originally planned on staying in San Francisco for 2 weeks to see Kimi.  However, work took her to Beijing so I decided to add a leg to my around the world ticket and stop off to see her.  One of the many benefits of staying with Kimi was we had 4 star accommodations. The extended stay business hotel was a far cry from the insect infested hostels that I had been sleeping in for the past two months.    With the enormity of Shanghai, Beijing has also been thoroughly infected by western culture.  I was expecting to see pagodas and a sea of bicycles flowing through the streets.  Instead I saw skyscrapers and Volkswagens everywhere.  Some of the highlights were Pearl Market haggling for camera batteries and memory cards, daily dosages of dumplings and of course the Chinese acrobats.  I’ll have to go back to Beijing the Olympic Architecture located in the outer rings.  

 

These women are upside down holding their entire body weight up with their mouths.

  

The Dirt Market…  Take a guess why they call it that.