Beijing Stories


I climbed the Great Wall!

Yes, today was yet another fun-filled day starting with the Great Wall. We had a driver today, which was a pleasant change from the taxis we have been in over the course of our trip. Mr. Li was his name, and he was very helpful along our journey. We went to the Juyongguan entrance of the Great Wall. I had initially thought I had never been to that en...


Conference and Hot Pot!!!

All these days have been filled with so much activity! This morning, I woke up at 5:45am to go to breakfast at 6:30am. We had to get on the buses by 7:30 or 7:40am to head down to the China National Convention Center for the speeches and the breakout sessions. We had an interesting morning. I am so fortunate to be able to go to these conferences ...


Tourists in Beijing

My roles today: 1) Tour Guide 2) Photographer 3) Interpreter 4) Food critic 5) Tourist 6) Writer Apparently, I do a lot. It was a beautiful Monday morning. This morning we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We hailed a taxi ourside of the hotel , and he took us close to Tiananmen Square (right across the street behind another s...


Oh the joy of shopping!

This morning we went to the Silk Market at Xinshuijie. We bargained like crazy with Chinese vendors! I always thought they had an interesting approach to selling. It's what I like to call "in-your-face marketing". It's a method that may drive the shy away and eventually make the fierce worthy of a cause. The cause: to get the best price! It was very exc...