"Hello...Hello!"

People in China don't just say hello once like most English speakers. They find repeating the word twice more effective. And maybe they are right. It sure got my attention, walking down the hutong alleys of Beijing, looking at all one could buy in such a small space. I learned a lot from Jaime's scouting methods, instead of just buying when I thought I had found a good deal. We got "real good" at walking away when a price was given that was "too much", only to have the vendor follow us down the alley, decreasing the price with every step. They quickly realized we weren't your typical North American shoppers....or Americans. I even made friends with some of them! This one lady was great....we just clicked. And we'd pass her stall practically every day, as it was very near our hostel....and we'd give her a wave and a smile, and carry on. I liked China more than I thought I would. I was excited about going to the Country where my dad was born, yes, but other than family connection, I wasn't really drawn to go there. But that has all changed. I would definately go back to China! I would love to see more of the Country, and explore the villages and more rural areas.

So...what did we do there? Good question. As it was the end of our Trans Siberian Railway journey, we did more relaxing and touristy things than the other two countries. It was great. Did some shopping, climbed The Great Wall of China (a 10km climb was extended to something more like 13 km, due to us missing the turn off to the restaurant below...oops), visited the Temple of Heaven, saw Tiananmen Square (from afar), went to the Pearl Market (rediculously overwhelming!!) which was three-stories worth, ate wonderful and mysterious food, and enjoyed having a room to ourselves with our own western toilet and shower!! Simple pleasures :)

As Jaime and I were sitting in the front entrance of our hostel at the computers, just shortly after checking in, I watching the crowds of people walk by, and spotted someone I knew: it was not one, but TWO boys that we had met on the train from Perm to Irkutsk! The Swedes! lol....So, that was pretty crazy and amazing, that of all the streets in Beijing, they just happened to be walking down ours, looking for a hostel. So, we ended up sharing at least a meal together each day, which was nice. Ordered some dishes where we had NO idea what we were getting! Pretty excellent! (the picture below is one such dish)

I think I could live there. Seriously. Hey, if the food is good, then I could live almost anywhere. Almost.

Cab rides. We basically walked everywhere, as we were so close to the areas we wanted to see. But when we did need to travel farther distances, and our legs did not allow our brains to convince them that they could walk, we took a cab. Most cab drivers don't speak English. So, thankfully we had a little card that the hostel gave us, with the name of the hostel written in Chinese, as well as a map. We carried this little card with us everywhere...cause they couldn't understand me trying to say the name in Chinese ( I don't know why! ). At first we would show them the card before getting in (cause we thought that would be smarter), but after being turned down by a number of cabs, we learned better. Next cab, we jumped in and waited till the driver had started driving to pull our the card with instructions of where to go. Ha ha. Can't stop now! :) We'd also get the locals who spoke English to write down the names of certain locations in Chinese characters, for us to show the drivers. Brilliant.

I tried to learn a little Chinese, and did. A litttle. Had fun using the little that I knew, trying to sound like a local. They thought it was funny. My English would so quickly turn to sounding like their English...lol.....had way too much fun.

I tried loading more pics, but couldn't. So, if you're on facebook, I've uploaded album after album...so do take a look at them. I did that for YOU! You're welcome.