Monday, August 11, 2008

Beijing (Courtney)

Some general pics....

" Rick-a-shaw? You want rick-a-shaw?! Hutong, very beautiful!" This is all we heard for a week. One time I was standing by myself, and I was approached by 5 different rickshaw drivers. Ended up telling one guy I lived there. He looked at me then said "Aaahh....you no need rick-a-shaw then!!" Cracked me up.


Has to be done.



Ribbon twirlers in the park.



This one because of the story. This was carved out of one piece of stone, a very long time ago. To transport it, they sprinkled water on to the streets of Beijing in winter to freeze over then slid this all the way to the Forbidden City along the ice.




Roof dragons.



Finally! Some art in China!




Some of the best food you'll ever eat in this country is cooked right here. Hole in the wall BBQ places, can't beat them!



The Great Wall, Simatai Section...











So steep!




Our attempt at a self portrait...fail.


Funny stuff....



The epitome of the Chinese man. Dark slacks, slip on dirty shoes, mobile or keys on belt....shirt rolled up to expose belly.


A bar/shop we went to...with a suspicious looking pile of drying greenery on the table.




Olympic madness continues, including rating the toilets. Only 3 stars for this one.




Is it just me or is there coins ALL over the ground?!



Clown fresh flowers were actually delivered by a clown! Sadly I didn't have the camera with me when I saw one of the clowns. This poor, lanky, downtrodden looking guy dressed as a clown...he looked positively miserable at the direction his life had taken.



Classic example of Chinese driving right here. We were originally on the other side but squeezed through. On the other side there is another car blocking everyone. No one stops or moves out of the way, they just keep inching forward, until everyone is so completely blocked there is no way out. So frustrating yet amusing to watch the sheer stupidity and "me, me, me!" attitude of all drivers.

And finally, food!


Mmh...meat and beer!





These are the sorts of things I'll miss about China. Little hole in the wall places selling all sorts of yummies.



Obligatory Peking Duck.










Be still my heart!



2 comments:

globalvickie said...

Dudes! I'm not sure about the scorpion-on-a-stick action..they look scary!
And the poor pretty seahorses!!
I'm pretty curious about the fruit stick thingos considering you love them so much!! can you send some to Melb??

Marcus and Courtney said...

I guess the only thing wrong with the fruit on the sticks was they dripped all over your hands leaving them sticky.

It surprised me just how much fruit is available in China - literally tons. Saying that is kind of bad I suppose as it reminds me how little fruit I have been eating here.

The fruit on those sticks though was so damned tasty, SO tasty! The grape had just so much flavour. Then drizzled in toffee? Hell yes!

The seahorses/starfish/little bat things on sticks though...blech. It makes you wonder if they're there for the novelty or people actually eat them as a staple somewhere. There I am thinking novelty.

Marcus