The last thing that we did was sight-seeing, of course. We went to the Great Wall – Badaling, South LuoGu Lane, Tiananmen Square, Bird’s nest and the Olympic park, and also Tianjian via the express train.

The Great Wall – Badaling - nothing to pick on. I am so proud of what our ancestors have left us. However, there were still tourists spitting everywhere, even from high above. So beware! I did take a very funky picture with some other tourists – we all leaned back in this picture, it was tough! Check it out!

South LuoGu Lane – I was told to visit here. It is the best preserved lanes of old Beijing. The preservation idea was good but I don’t think it was done properly. The entire district is now commericalized, with building fronts greatly altered, so a large part of originality is lost. Nevertheless, it was a good leisure walk inside the humming and buzzing right in the city center.






We went to the Tiananmen Square to watch the lowering of the national flag. Obviously, it was not as emotional as the raising ceremony. But watching the soldiers marched across the Chang An street when all the traffic was stopped. It was quite interesting.

Yes, I have decided to start with the three items I saw the most, then I will blog about the trip later on.

Security Check (安檢) – there is security check everywhere – and I mean, EVERYWHERE. We had to get security checks when getting into the subway station; before entering the Great Wall; when entering the Tianmen Square; the list can go on. From this perspective, this feels rather communistic.

Flies - oh yes! Flies. Even when you are inside a hotel room or an upper-end restaurant. Well, at least they didn’t come in groups. But the way they hover around me and the food really annoyed me. I didn’t expect there would be flies at such low temperature (daily range of 5 to 20 degrees Celsius), and in upper-end restaurants.

Phlegm - I am serious, and ILK!!!!!! For some reasons, men in Beijing have more phlegm than anyone else. There would be loud coughs, then followed by spitting. This happens when they are walking, chatting with friends, commuting, in the middle of a meal, and before they enter the Great Wall (thank goodness the authority forbids spitting inside the Great Wall)! Needless to say, this is extremely disgusting. There were several times we had to change our seats in restaurants because we could not stand the sounds of the coughs and could not even stand the scenes following.

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