More China...

Lucky for you the Olympics have been making me think about Beijing and China and it has forced me to finally update my blog with a walk down memory lane of my China trip. It hasn't even been 3 months since I've been home from my vacation...but it feels like a lifetime away!!



So here is a little of what I saw and did (besides running on the Great Wall) when I was on the other side of the world...

This was the first picture of the trip...right before we left for the Airport showing our China spirit with the hats we got from some friends at church.

Um....we flew with Air China. And I think this picture says it all.....

Definitely NOT my favorite airline. But it was the cheapest and we got there safe and sound.

This was right after we walked through customs at Beijing Airport! I think I was still in complete shock that I was in China!

So....you know that picture of the gross airline food? Well, needless to say we were hungry after we got to our hotel....and where did we end up going? Um yeah....KFC. And let me tell you something...popcorn chicken is NOT the same in China as it is in North America! Apparently they REALLY like the organs of the chicken over there...in fact there are a bunch of cartoon hearts drawn all over their place mats and on their posters. It was so...what's the word?...nasty.

Look familiar??? If you have been watching the Olympics at all, you've probably seen this... It's Tiananmen Square. And below is the Tiananmen Gate that leads into the Forbidden City...which was the Chinese imperial palace and was the home of the Emperor

This was in the Forbidden city....It was MASSIVE. I couldn't believe how much walking we were doing...esp considering we were going to be running a 1/2 marathon the next day. It was a long day! But very fun to experience some of Beijing.

You can't really go to China and not try Peking Duck...It's one of China's National Foods from Beijing. And it's actually really good!

This is another cool looking building...(they kinda all start to look the same after a while)..but anyway, this one is called Temple of Heaven.

You just have to love the english things they put on stuff. This was a personal favorite I found in the mall across from our hotel. It says, "Hey Guy You're Magic Vogue". Not sure what it means....and I would have bought it..but it's a size negative 5 since they only make clothes large enough to fit like one of my arms.

I LOVE going to grocery stores in other countries. It is seriously one of my most favorite things to do! I love to try their foods...And just pick up random things that look like they might be good. This was the Candy section...and it's a whole new world when you can't read a thing and can't see what it looks like. It's always a surprise. (Most of them were not very good surprises).

And of course....I always try the different flavor of chips. I love chips...so i always try them out. These ones are Beef Flavor! They were tolerable...but not worth the extra calories.

Speaking of trying new things......Welcome to the squatter style toilet! They are everywhere in China. Unfortunately, they aren't all as nice as this one. This one even had an automatic flusher...We weren't always this lucky. I got really good at squatting though...you have to get low.

Rickshaw!!! I feared for my life a little bit when the person driving the thing would get really (and I mean REALLY) close to cars and other rickshaws....but it was a fun little adventure! They took us through a bunch of streets and alleys.


Downtown Beijing. Just out enjoying the city at night.

So, I don't know what it is...but the Chinese people like to take pictures of us white girls roaming around the streets. These 2 ladies came up to Camille and me and asked if they could get a picture with us. My favorite was when someone would come stand near me and it was obvious the purpose was to get a picture of me...for fun i would walk around and watch the person holding the camera angle it towards me. :)

This was just a little boat ride we took at some park. It was fun little break and a nice change from the walking and looking at what started to feel like the same stuff. Once you've seen the architecture at one place...you've seen it all.

One of the best parts about the trip was the people we met! These were all other marathoners that were on our bus...bus 8! We met people from all over and became good friends by the end of our trip! It was fantastic. This was our last day in China...we all met for breakfast the morning before everyone took off their separate ways.

Look what I found!?!! I was just walking by....and of course had to take a picture. Good ol' EY..they are everywhere.



How good does this look? :) Scorpions, snake, sea horse, crickets, silk worms, chicken hearts...quite the variety.

And of course....the Scorpion pictures again...


I had to close my eyes in order to stick it in my mouth.....
And despite the look on my face above...it wasn't as bad as you would have thought. Don't get me wrong...it wasn't good..and I wouldn't eat them on a regular basis...but it wasn't as bad as you would have expected. Thanks to salt, pepper and being fried to death. (Yes, literally to death...they are alive on the stick before they are cooked for you...hmm...Fresh!).

You see....Joe enjoyed it! :) Doesn't this pic just scream, "Finger lickin' Good!" :) Seriously, if you ever go to China...just try it! I'm still alive and healthy.

The snake (above) was actually pretty good. I even took a few extra bites.

The markets in China are something else. In some ways it's nothing like Canal street...and in other ways it's the same. It's a lot more organized and cleaner...as you can tell from the pictures. But man - those workers will grab at you and call out to you like crazy trying to get you to buy something! It's the craziest thing.

Camille took the picture above.....they had 3 minutes of silence for those that lost their lives in the horrible earthquakes that had taken place right before I got to China. It was amazing how everyone got so quiet in the middle of a mad house!

"Lady, Lady, you buy, you buy, best quality, very good imitation, good price for you" was pretty much ALL you heard over and over and over again.

And of course we all had to make an extra purchase and buy a piece of luggae to fit in everything else we had bought! :) And then off to Thailand we went....

Being in China and espescially the Great Wall 1/2 marathon were absolutely incredible! I'm so happy I did it! Definitely an experience of a lifetime!