Week 7

Week 7
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Where We Went:  Beijing + Shanghai

First Moment Here:  Getting through customs, getting cash and buying our bus tickets was all relatively easy.  The SMOG IS OUT OF CONTROL.  The air is so hazy and you can look directly at the sun during the middle of the day with your bare eyes because it is so hidden behind pollution.  Everything is DIRTY - the restrooms, the ground, the bus, all of it.  There is trash everywhere making the smells no surprise at all.

Craziest Thing We Did:  Eat scorpions on “snack street” aka Fungyujing Road.  After weaving down this tiny alley glowing with red globe lanterns and eating crazy deep fried food, you pop out to a Hermes and a KFC.  Such a crazy mix.

Best Thing We Did:  Hike 10k of the Great Wall of China with a small group of 8 people, all of whom became friends by the end of the day.  Our Belgium guide Fred was so laid back and cool plus knowledgeable.  We had a delicious lunch served in a farmhouse before we took off hiking.  The only other people on the wall as far as the eye could see was another group of 8, hiking with the same company we were.  This was an unbelievable and unforgettable day.

Tastiest Thing We Did:  Peking Duck at DaDong.  The crispy skin sprinkled with sugar was our favorite part of the duck.

Dumbest Thing We Did:  Walk and walk and walk.  We have to get better about taking the subway, bus and cabs.

Biggest Thing We Learned:  About the history of China through visiting Tianamian square and the Forbidden Palace and about current day practices in China via lack of google, FB and government policies still in play.

Mystery Solved:  Since we’ve been in Asia we’ve been wondering what these ridged yellow tiles throughout the subways and streets were for.  Our guesses included the direction of pedestrians and emergency exits.  Turns out they are for the blind to follow.

Other Updates:

• Got to spend a night out with Adam’s High School/College buddies Lisa and Tom from Chicago who live in Shanghai.  They took us out for dinner and drinks and we had a blast!  
• With all the coughing, hacking, blowing, and snorting in China it’s no doubt Chelsea got her first cold…
• Adam is mastering chop sticks.
• We confirmed that Adam’s Chinese character tattoo does, in fact, mean hero.