Beijing, China
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In the city
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| Beijing has all of the signs of a modern western city. McDonalds, Kentuckey
Fried Chicken, Hard Rock Cafe and Starbucks Coffee have all made Beijing
"home." |
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John, the artist
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| While I wandered the streets of Beijing around my hotel, I met an
artist/teacher who used the western name of John. He invited me to view his
studio/gallery; an offer I accepted. It is his ink drawing of bamboo that now
graces my opening page and his calligraphy that reads "goCarlos" in
the center of the home page. |
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John demonstrated his techniques in
ink and watercolor. I, in turn, showed him what could be done on a computer
with a graphics tablet and a painting program. Here you can see him honing his
skills.
Through John, I met two young students, Victoria and Tina. It is interesting
that the western names that many Chinese adapt are almost random. In the case
of these girls, a teacher at their college assigned them names. |
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The Great Wall at Muitianyu
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One of the best things of visiting the Great Wall
at Mutianyu instead of the more popular and restored section at Badaling was
the utter absence of crowds. As you can see in this view of the shopping
district there are very few tourists crowding the way. |
| There were many hundreds, if not
thousands of steps to climb to reach the actual wall from the parking area.
Once getting to the top and after some additional walking along the wall, it
seemed like a prudent idea to take an alternate route back down. The two
choices were a ski-chair lift and a "slide-a-way". The sled like cart
was about $5.oo (US) for a one-way ticket. Each cart carried one person and was
equipped with a hand brake to slow descent. It took me nearly 12 miutes to
slide down, most of the time with the brake engaged.
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Chinese Dinner
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| The fish was very fresh! This was the first time that I ever
had a waitress bring a net to my table to approve her selection. This fish was
a grass carp, and just moments before was swimming in a fish tank where I
assumed it was somebody's pet. Nonetheless I said yes and the pet was sent off
to the kitchen. |
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Had I known that the fish would be
brought to my plate where it would stare at me I might have changed my
selection!! |
