This was the year of weddings apparently since three friends of mine got married and a few more got engaged. In July Sheng (one of the TSF family) got married which meant a TSF reunion. Ana, June, Steven, Kevin and Andrew all flew over to Dutchland for the wedding (for pics click here). It was one crazy week for me picking up and dropping off the TSF crew but it was very nice seeing them again and ofcourse spending time with my sweetheart Ana. We even managed to squeeze in a trip to Cologne and saw the yearly fireworks “Köln Lighter”. Cologne pics click here. The week after I went to London to visit the UK office of TOPdesk which was a nice experience. London is a beautiful city and I managed to get some nice nightshots while I was there. London pics click here.

In August I turned 30 leaving behind the twenties I wasn’t planning on celebrating it but my parents arranged for a surprise birthday party with friends and family I haven’t seen in a while. Loved it and had a very enjoyable evening. September was the wedding of Rezi & Marc and in October the wedding of Yip Wing & Naomi. I’ve known Rezi, Yip & Naomi since highschool, so that would be roughly half my life. I had a blast on both weddings and am very happy for them.

The last week of October I went on holiday to San Francisco with Ana. We met up with June and had a blast in SF. I love SF and definitely want to go back again in the future since there’s quite a few things to see in and around SF. If you want to see the pics click here.

Gadgets wise the last seven months I’ve spent quite a bit of money. Hey I can’t help it, I’m a gadget nerd. I got myself a Macro lens the 100L from Canon. I love this lens to use for Macro’s and tele shots. Though I must admit on a crop DSLR like my Canon 500D it is a bit too long inside for normal use. Can’t wait to use it on a full frame but that will have to wait until Canon releases a 5D mark III. I also replaced my trusty old Canon Ixus 800IS point and shoot for the Canon Powershot S95. For the times I don’t want or can’t bring my DSLR along. Which is weekdays when I head to clients for work, then I can use the S95 to take pics when I’m on the road. I also got myself a new phone to replace my Nokia E72, which is still a very good phone but I started to find the lack of app support for Symbian getting annoying. So after years and years of Nokia Symbian phones I got myself the HTC Desire Z with Android. Wow, it really showed me how much catching up Nokia has to do with their Symbian OS compared to Android and iOS from Apple. But then again, I didn’t really check out the newer Nokia models with touch screens so I can’t really say if there had been an improvement. The last gadget I got myself was something I didn’t think I would get, an iPod Nano 6th Gen. Or should I say iPod Nano G6? It’s definitely Fly like a G6

Since it’s been a long while that I updated my website I decided to change the theme, hope you like it. The picture right above the menu’s in the header is one that I made. I’ll try to update it every now and then with new pics that I shot. Well that’s it for now, once again Merry Christmas! Enjoy the holiday’s and I’ll leave you with a Christmas song.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrsdOwVZcs

Other than work I’ve been meeting up with friends and having dinner reunions. It was was having a mini TSF reunion when Suzanne was in Dutchland to visit Marc. The whole Dutch TSF crew got together and we also went to Brussels, it was really nice weather and fun. Too bad I had to leave early in the afternoon back to Rotterdam to meet up with my fellow CSA-EUR board members aka The Duckies It was fun too meet up again after the last time. Which was in November 2008, so we haven’t met up in 6 months!!! O_o Yeah it’s been that long, next time we shouldn’t wait that long!!! So guess we’ll have to start planning again for August? Just like my other CSA-EUR crew which I met one week later in Amsterdam. FINALLY a time in Amsterdam We went to Hwa Won for Korean food which was pretty nice and afterwards we were crazy enough to go to Schiphol airport for a Starbucks frappacino. My guess is that the next time we’ll meet will also be somewhere in August. Yeah I know … it’s madness planning that far ahead. But that’s the sad case when everyone’s working. Weekends are booked most of the time. O_o

Oh and 2 friends of mine got married in the last 2 months too. Am I getting old or what? A lot of people I know are getting married. One was a friend from the TU Delft when I studied Electrical Engineering for one year and the other was a friend when I stopped at the TU Delft and went to the HvA to study Electrical Engineering. I had a bachelor party for Chiwai which was really fun but tiresome. We did paintball for 3 hours and after that we went to another place to race around on Quads and drive around in 4×4 jeeps (the ones you think of when you hear the word Safari). On the day of Chiwai’s wedding I was one of the hingdai’s so we were tortured picking up the bride to be Natascha. It was a long but very happy and joyous day ending with a wedding banquet in Amsterdam.

That’s been the last 2 months, and I’m really looking forward to next month because on the 22th of July I’ll be flying to London with my cousin Marco and two other highschool friends (Dennis & Jay) to have a midweek vacation and to visit the MJ concert on the 24th of July. The only thing I hope is that the shows won’t be cancelled or that MJ doesn’t die or something like that.  But then again, if the concert is cancelled we’ll just have one more day of sightseeing/shopping. Well, that’s my update for now. See you all next update, which will be before me heading off to London.

So how did this all happen? It all started with Suzanne planning on coming to visit her boyfriend Marc, she convinced Andrew to come and he (along with some of the Dutchies) managed to convince Steven & Ana to also join in the same timeframe that Suzanne was coming over. Result: a big TSF family reunion.

It started on Tuesday the 25th of November when Ana landed at 6am. Yeah I was there to pick her up since she was going to stay at my place for two weeks. On wednesday Suzanne landed with Marc picking her up and on Thusrday Andrew and Steven arrived. Ana, Andrew & Steven stayed at my place and Suzanne ofcourse at Marc’s place since she came to mainly see him with the rest of the TSF being an added bonus. This marked the start of three crazy days with the whole group being here. We went sightseeing to Zaanse Schans, Rotterdam & Amsterdam. Those three days passed by sooooo ridiculously fast and on Sunday we had to bring Andrew back to the airport. He was the first to leave back again, well at least he was able to join the reunion and had fun. Tuesday was Stevens turn to go back and that only left Suzanne and Ana who were staying longer in Dutchland.

Since it was the first time for Ana to visit Europe I planned out an itenary to also visit France & Belgium during her two week visit. So after the departure of Steven me and Ana went traveling. Wednesday morning it was off to Paris for two days with the mission to see as much as possible. Those were two exhausting days, we walked around Paris all day and managed to see and do all of the following: Le Sacre Coeur, The Opera House, Le Louvre, Arc the Triomphe, Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower and walk along the Seine and Champs Elysee. Food wise we had crepes, baguettes and other yummy food.

After two days Paris it was of to Brussels and walk around in city center. Ofcourse we had to see Manneke Pis, The Cartoon Walls, Grand Place and have yummy food (chocolate, wafels, mussels etc.). To bad we didn’t manage to hit the Atomium, since I also have neer been there before. Oh well, another time. The next day it was already the last city before going back to Dutchland, off to the city of Antwerp. We walked around city center, had lunch and dinner and went back to Amsterdam. That was last week Saturday and three days ago on Tuesday the 9th of December Ana left for NY. Marking the end of the TSF reunion, Suzanne left a few days before Ana did.

I had a great time with all of you, in BJ and here in Dutchland. I won’t say goodbye but:

“Untill we meet again!!!”

Because I know I will try visit you all in the future. Don’t know when and I don’t know where but our paths will cross again.

.

from left to right: Pamela, Andrew, Sheng, Marc, Suzanne, Steven, Wijie, Ana and me sitting in the clog

from left to right: Wijie, Hing me, Pamela, Ana, Andrew, Suzanne, Marc, Steven & Sheng

from left to right: Sammy, Pamela, Andrew, Suzanne, Marc, Sheng, Ana, me, Steven & Wijie

]]> http://www.guychen.nl/2008/12/12/tsf-reunion-in-the-netherlands/feed/ 0 http://www.guychen.nl/2008/06/26/coming-back-home-t-minus-9-days/ http://www.guychen.nl/2008/06/26/coming-back-home-t-minus-9-days/#comments Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:37:36 +0000 Guy Chen http://www.guychen.nl/2008/06/26/coming-back-home-t-minus-9-days/ Continue reading →]]> Hi all,

It’s been a while since my last update, 4 months to be precise. Man time really flies sooo fast and I have travelled and seen so many things here in China. It’s unbelievable how big, diverse, beautiful and mesmerizing this country is. Specially when you have great “Tsinghua Super Friends” to share the experiences with. Can’t believe I just finished my last exam today and will be flying back home next week sunday. Yep I will be back in NL next week sunday.

I really have mixed feelings about coming back, on one hand I really wanna come back and see everyone again in NL. Missing my girlfriend, parents, family and friends a lot. But on the other hand I really don’t want to go back since it means leaving BJ and saying goodbye to all my friends here in BJ. It’s a thought that makes me really sad but reality is harsh and as reality will have it. Everyone is kind of starting to leave back for home or have one last trip this weekend.

Just like I’m doing since I’m flying out BJ this sunday to South Korea to have one last trip before coming back to NL. Yep, I’ll be in Seoul and Jeju Island for a week and next week saturday I’ll be back in BJ with the knowledge that all of my friends won’t be there anymore. One more day to repack stuff and say goodbye to Tsinghua, Wudaokou and BJ in my own way and the next day it’s time for me to fly out.

I am soooooo gonna miss everybody. Eventhough the dutchies I’ll definately see when they get back in NL it’s the friends that are from the rest of the world that I am really gonna miss. Typing this and thinking about it makes me really sad and it feels so surreal. Tsinghua has become my home away from home in this past year and that has mostly to do with all the friends here. My “Tsinghua Super Friends”. How fitting this group name has become for me in this past year. Eventhough I had to say goodbye to quite a few friends at the end of last semester it didn’t make me feel this sad since a lot stayed.

Anyway, time to feel sad and scroll through memory lane will come when I get back in NL. I’m gonna enjoy the last few days here in BJ with my friends before it all ends. Tomorrow we’ll have a big after finals goodbye party, I’m really looking forward to it and gonna enjoy it as much as I can.

To be continued …

From left to right: Ana, me, Andrew & Steven (picture taken in Chengdu, Du Fu's cottage)

Day 1: Leaving to Sichuan, Chengdu.
Our flight really early so we had to get up at 5 AM to leave for the airport. That meant me waking up at around 4:30 AM. O_o Anyway, we met up at 5 AM and tried to find a cab. Well yeah, good luck trying to find a cab at 5 AM in the morning on a Friday. After finally getting a cab while waiting for about 30 minutes we were finally off to the airport and our vacation trip started.

The carbide was the crappiest one I have ever had, that dude did NOT know how to drive. We all were glad when we finally arrived at the airport after a 45 minute cab ride. We proceeded to check in and get some food since we still had some time before we really had to board. Yep we went to get KFC before boarding since it’s kind of our un-official off the record tradition by now. It seems every time I travel I have some KFC before leaving towards my designated destination.

The plane left in time and we arrived according our flight schedule at Chengdu airport to be picked up by the pick up service that our hostel provided. We proceeded to go to Sim’s Cozy Guesthouse, checked in and went out to explore Chengdu. Our first stop was Wenshu Temple and we walked through the streets of Chengdu towards the temple. The first thing we notices was that the cars are dirty (really dirty) and that the people were really nice when we asked for directions.

We got at the temple and walked around for a bit and decided to have some food since it was lunch time already. We had some nice food and one of the nicest Sichuan style fish I ever had. The fish was luckily not that spicy but it was tongue numbing. After lunch we wanted to go to the city center but we ended up walking a lot while trying to find a cab. It seemed near impossible to find a cab in Chengdu, all the cabs were taken by only one passenger each and when we found one that was empty it didn’t want to stop and pick us up. Needless to say we were getting really pissed off about this. After a lot of walking we decided to walk back towards Sim’s Cozy and then we saw it. A taxi stand !!! Apparently you can only get on a cab at one of these stands that are scattered throughout the city. Well with our luck that day it was an empty one but at least we found out how to get a cab. >_<

When we got back we went to the travel desk they have and booked a private bus for our travel itinerary we made for the next day. Of all the hostels we stayed in Sichuan we must say that Sim’s Cozy has the best tour arrangements. All the other hostels only offered local Chinese Tours while Sim’s Cozy we got our own bus and could make our own itinerary. After booking the bus we decided to chill out at Sim’s Cozy and have a late night snack before going to bed. We had to get up early.

Day 2: Panda Breeding Base & Sanxingdui.
Day 2 … we got up early to go to the Panda Breeding Base so we could see the Panda’s while their most active … as in eating. Because the rest of the day they kind of … euhhh … sleep. >_< Anyway it was cool to see all the panda’s just eating and walking around. We saw an documentary about panda’s and it’s really weird to see how they try to mate and especially when a mother gives birth to their fist baby. They actually don’t have a clue as what to do after giving birth to a panda baby. We even saw a panda mother smacking their new born baby around in the cage. O_O >_< Also we saw people looking up towards the sky when looking for panda’s. It seemed weird and redonkulous to us but it all became clear when we went to look at the panda’s. When we got at a certain area there were a lot of panda’s walking around in their habitat and … sitting up in the trees!!! O_O Well guess that’s why the people in the documentary were looking upwards. It’s really amazing to see a panda sitting in a tree on a branch that looked like it would break at any given time. I really can not imagine that I would be able to sit on the same branch and it not braking on me. Anyway, not only that but there was this panda that was actually rocking on the branch like you do on a swing. We stayed in the breeding base for about 3 hours and then it was time to go to our next stop: Sanxingdui.

It took the bus about 1 hour to get there and during the trip we all had a powernap. We got at Sanxingdui and had some lunch before going in. It was not crowded and we walked around the site. We saw some artifact that were found there and I for one was amazed at the things I saw. I don’t know if it’s more impressive that the terracotta warriors as some say but it’s impressive nonetheless.

After getting picked up by our bus we were dropped off at Xinnanmen busstation so we could get the bus for our next stop in Sichuan province: Emei Shan. We got our bustickets and got on the bus to Emei Shan. The bus ride took about 3 hours and we got at Emei Town at around 9 PM. We got picked up by the free pickup service of the Teddy Bear Hotel. That was our final stop for the day. We checked in, had dinner and walked around and got some info for our trip to Emei Shan the next day.

Our initial plan was to visit Emei Shan, head to Leshan to visit the Buddah and then go back to Changdu where we had to take the long distance bus to go to Jiuzhaigou. But at Teddy Bear Hotel they told us that it was not possible to to Emei Shan and Leshan in one day and then also go to Jiuzhaigou so we had to change our travel plans. We decided to skip Leshan and just do Emei Shan and head to Juizhaigou. After replanning we decided to go to bed and rest up for a long day.

Day 3: Emei Shan & Juizhaigou.
We got up early to get an early bus to Emei Shan and when we got there we took a cable car up to a certain part of Emei Shan. It was misty and it was raining very lightly. It all contributed to the atmosphere of Emei Shan but it kind of impaired our view. To be honest one day is to short for Emei Shan and I personally plan on going back to visit it for a few more days somewhere in the spring. I want to stay on the mountain for the night and witness the sunrise on top of the mountain. But that will have to wait for now. We walked around for about 1 or 2 hours and went back down to get our stuff at Taddy Bear Hotel and left for Chengdu to transfer to the bus to Jiuzhaigou.

We got at the designated bus station with 40 minutes to spare, or so we thought. According to all the information me and Ana had when planning our Sichuan trip the last bus to Jiuzhaigou was to leave at 4 PM and we got at the bus station at 3:20 PM so all was ok. Until we wanted to get the bus tickets and we found out that they changed the time schedule. >_< According the new time schedule we missed the last bus to Jiuzhaigou, since it left at 2 PM. While we were pondering our options, even thinking of getting a black cab to drive us there, we finally decided on staying in Chengdu and go hostel hopping.

Our original plan of going to Juizhaigou and spending a day there and then come back to Chengdu for our last day was changed into staying in Chengdu and visiting Leshan instead.

We picked a hostel and called to book a room, after doing so we set off to check in at Dragon Town Youth Hostel. Of all the hostels this one had the nicest room. After checking in we decided to go to the city center. We got at Zongfu Lu, Hongxing Lu which is the shopping area and city center of Chengdu and has a nice dinner. After dinner we walked back to the hostel while exploring the city and taking a lot of pictures. We rearranged our plans again since we were not going to Jiuzhaigou and decided to visit Chengdu’s tourist spots.

Day 4: Du Fu’s Cottage, Wuhou Temple, Jinli Lu & Sichuan Opera
The next day we had a nice breakfast and went off to check in at another hostel which was near Dragon Town Youth Hostel called The Loft. After a 10 minute walk we got there and checked in our room. In my humble opinion this was the lesser of all the hostels we stayed. It’s ok but the other were just better. Anyway, we dropped our stuff and went sightseeing in Chengdu.

First stop Du Fu’s Cottage. Du Fu is one of the most revered Poets in Chinese history, moreover in the Tang dynasty. This was one of the most scenic places I’ve been to and the whole area was serene and beautiful. After walking around this beautiful place we got a shuttle bus to Wuhou temple.

When we got there we had a quick bite to eat at Jinli Lu, which is the tourist street next to Wuhou Temple. There you could buy a lot of souvenirs and stuff and just chill and relax. Wuhou temple was nice to see, to bad a whole part was closed off for preparations for Chinese New Year. In the evening we went to the Sichuan Opera which we booked through the Loft. It was entertaining and afterwards we didn’t do anything.

In the end it worked out pretty well that the bus schedule to Jiuzhaigou was changed. It gave us a chance to do some real sightseeing in Chengdu itself and have a less hectic and tiresome trip. If we had gone to Juizhaigou we would have been in the bus for about 13 hours to get there on day 3. Arriving at 6 AM or something like that on day 4. We only would have had one day there and then on day 5 we would have had to take the bus back to Chengdu for 13 hours. Which would mean that day would have gone to waste by purely traveling. We still plan on going to Jiuzaigou somewhere in the spring when the weather is nicer and more of the park is open.

Day 5: Leshan & Hot Pot of Death
The last day in Sichuan we decided to go Leshan to visit the Buddah. It took us about 3 hours to get to Leshan and we were only there for about 1 or 2 hours. We had some lunch and took a boat to see the Buddah from the water. The ticket was 50 RMB and we only had 5 minutes to take pictures. Well that was kind of a waste of our money. >_< But we got to see another world heritage site. It was still impressive to see it. We decided not to go and climb the Buddah since it would cost us more money and more time. So we went back to Chengdu which took another 3 hours. After getting back at the Xinnanmen bus station in Chengdu we walked towards the city center and had some relax time.

Yep we went to Häagen Dasz and ate chocolate fondue, Andrew thanks for treating us. After that we walked around some more and went back to the Loft to pick up our bags. Since you can’t go to Sichuan and NOT have the famous Sichuan Hot Pot we went to a hot pot restaurant to get us some. When we walked into the restaurant we saw other people having hot pot that looked sooo spicy it was just plain nuts in our humble opinion. There were people having hot pot which looked like they were only filled with peppers!!! O_o

We decided to take the lowest level of spicyness just to try. Like I said, you can’t go to Sichuan and not have NON SPICY Hot Pot. But anyway, were we in for a hard time eating … we even called our sorry ass lowest level spicy hot pot the pot of death. We drank a lot of bear to help us eat it and used the sesame oil to drown our food in before eating it. And to think other people in the restaurant were having hot pot that was much much more spicier than ours … O_O

It was a nice experience though and after eating we went to Sim’s Cozy for our last night in Sichuan. After getting back at Sim’s Cozy we dropped our stuff in our room and went to get some snacks and have a drink in their restaurant/lounge/bar to end the night and our touring of Sichuan.

Day 6: Going back to Beijing.
The next day we had to get up early to go to the airport. We used the service from Sim’s Cozy and we were off back to Beijing. We got at the airport and checked in our bags and got some food. Well … guess what we ate before going back to Beijing. Yep KFC. Anyway, the flight was delayed and we got back in Beijing around 3 PM and went straight to campus.

Well that’s all about my trip to Sichuan. Small summery and impressions:
- Cool travel group, Steven, Andrew & Ana it was a blast traveling with you. I had a lot of fun. Special thanks to Ana for helping me plan the itinerary and booking our flight tickets
- Nice people in Sichuan
- Visited 3 world heritage sites: Sanxingdui, Emei Shan, Leshan. The fourth one (Jiuzhaigou) will have to wait.
- Sim’s Cozy is the best hostel overall, specially with the tours they provide
- Dragon Town Youth Hostel has really nice rooms
- The Loft is ok, but the lesser of all the hostels we’ve stayed at
- Teddy Bear Hotel is cool, nice people and a very good location for climbing Emei Shan
- Getting a cab in Chengdu is not an easy thing
- The food is very nice, even if you don’t eat that spicy like me so don’t be scared
- Finally I will go back to visit Emei Shan and Jiuzhaigou when it’s nicer weather

]]> http://www.guychen.nl/2008/02/10/sichuan-6-day-backpack-trip/feed/ 1 http://www.guychen.nl/2008/01/24/december-january-update/ http://www.guychen.nl/2008/01/24/december-january-update/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:27:07 +0000 Guy Chen http://www.guychen.nl/2008/01/24/december-january-update/ Continue reading →]]> Man, time really flies!!! It’s already been 2 months since my last update. Well guess that’s what happens when you’re really busy in the holiday month called december. Here’s a short recap of december and january.

December:

My parents came to visit me up here in BJ from 8 – 22 december. It was great seeing them again and being able to bring them to a lot of places in Beijing. It was very exhausting but really nice to do. I mean having classes, homework and then tourguiding my parents for two weeks is not something that you do like that. We managed to see everything that BJ is known for and that was the main goal for me.

After my parents left back to NL I had some time to play catch up with classes and homework. It was also time for Christmas and New Year. I had dinner with my friends on Christmas and had a blast on New Years Eve and went into 2008 with my friends at Vics.

January:

Well after all the partying we went to Harbin in the first weekend on the new year with a group of 15 people. Yep we went to see the infamous Ice Scultures and experience temperatures of MINUS 17 degrees Celsius. Well … it was cold but a lot of fun and I’m glad I was able to go to Harbin with a lot of my friends.

After Harbin I had one week to prepare for my final exams for this semester and that is what I did. Study, study and study. Last week (14 – 16 January) I had my exams and it’s VACATION TIME now for me. And it started with a big bang … friday 18 January I left for Sichuan to go backpacking with 3 good friends of mine (Ana, Andrew & Steven). I just got back yesterday and I’ll be leaving for one week of Japan tomorrow. I’m so looking forward to go to Japan and see and experience the culture and life there. A full updat of my Sichuan trip will follow after this post so get ready for some reading.

If you want to see pictures of Harbin and Sichuan, register at facebook and add me. Yeah, I was peer pressured into using facebook since everyone uses it. Oh and I still can’t log into Hyves so all of you wanting to add me. Sorry but I’ll add you when I get the chance … maybe in Japan if I have the time.

Adios, I’m gonna pack and do some shopping for Japan. See you all later.

On the 2nd of november I’ve been to a concert of Andy Lau with some friends, I don’t know a lot of songs from him but I know that he’s a big star in China. It was fun to see but getting there was a real pain in the ass. It was on a friday and the subway was really crowded. I’ve never experienced anything like that before and to be honest. I hope to never experience that again. But with at least another three months to go I think I will.

The week after that I had my midterms for the courses I have, they were kind of hard but I managed to pass all of them. For the people that are interested here are my results. Kouyu (speaking) 86, Tingli (listening) 70,5 and for Zonghe (grammar) 70. I had my last midterm on a friday and afterwards me and some classmates went out for bowling and korean BBQ. After that I went out to Propaganda with other friends. It was a long day and I didn’t get back untill early in the morning.

The next day I had to get up early to get a hot shower and get ready to go to a park and the 13 ming tombs. This was an excursion arranged by Tsinghua and it was cheap so I decided to sign up earlier that week. Me and my friends that also went clubbing  were in for a big surpris. It turned out the park was a mountain … O_o. We were deadtired but managed to get up to the top and walk down again in one piece. After that we had lunch and though we were going to the 13 ming tombs. That was another surprise … we didn’t really go but ended up near the 13 ming tombs at some olypmic venue. We took some pics and had a race … yeah a sprint in our tired condition. When I have time I’ll put up the movie and pics.

I’ve also been to Gugong (forbidden city), Yihe yuan (the new summer palace), Yuanmingyuan (old summer palace) and I’ve been amazed by the beauty of those places. Pics and movies are also coming when I find the time and feel like filtering and uploading them.

The first week of october we had a whole week of vacation (National day) and I went to Xi’an with some friends, those stories and pics will have to wait for another time but suffice to say I had a really good time over there. We visited the hot springs, the teracotta warriors and mount hua. Like before, pics and movies are on their way.

Well that’s it for this update. It’s 9:35 AM at the moment and have to get ready for classes in the afternoon. Tomorrow I’ll be visiting The Temple of Heaven and I’m really looking forward to it. See you on the next update.

Time: Saturday the 28th of september, 8 o’clock in the morning.
Destination: Great wall at Badaling.

Getting up on this early on a saturday is not my way to start off a weekend and vacation but for a trip to Badaling I didn’t mind. Specially since the trip was arranged by Tsinghua and the price was only 50 yuan. It’s CHEAP !!! But anyway, a lot of people that I know went so it was fun. And it was the beginning of one of our traditions. But I’ll tell you about that in a minute. The bus ride took about 45 minutes or something like that. I can’t really remember because it’s a while ago and I was also powernapping and talkting to people in the bus.

When we got there at 11 we were told we had till 14 to walk on the wall. We started walking towards one end and taking pictures along the way when there was a challenge to run towards the first tower. Well … it ain’t hard to guess what happened then. Most of the EUR group started running, me included to see who could get to the tower first. What I didn’t know is that Marc was filming our running up the wall. We were lik madmen running up the wall with people looking at us as of we were crazy. I think we kind of are but it was fun to do. Anyway, this race was the first of a lot of races and it’s kind of a tradition to have a race and film it at each touristic place we’ve been visiting up till now. So up till ow we’ve run at al of the places we’ve beento with the EUR group.

Anyway, after the race we decided that walking was a better idea and we walked towards the end of the wall. We got there with 45 minutes to spare before we had to be back. Took some pics and walked back. At the end we had another race towards the entrance. It was really funny to run on the wall and like I said before. It had become a tradition to race.

We were in time, had an ice cream and headed back to the meeting point to go back towards Tsinghua. And that’s the Badaling story. Check out the pics.

Pictures Great wall at Badaling

Anyway, we got at Tiananmen West subway station and we still had to walk for quite a while. Every few minutes getting calles that we had to hurry because they we’re gonna close and we had little time. It was hectic, we managed to get a few shots before starting a run towards the Forbidden city. We got at 20:30 and had about a half hour to walk around, take some pics before getting kicked out.

Afterwards we walked around on Tiananmen, took some pics and went home by cab. It was a fun expecience. Sheng I want to thank you once again for the tickets and for calling us. Go take a look at the picture gallery and I’ll be off writing the next few blog updates.

Pictures Tiananmen by Night