Category Archives: Beijing 2013

Mirinda’s work trip to China turned into an amazing holiday for us both though I did suffer a bit of culture shock along the way.

The end of Beijing

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Gary

Well, I’m finally sitting on our lounge, Radio 3 playing some classic music I’ve never heard before and Mirinda fast asleep upstairs. It was a longish, uninteresting flight home (though appeared to be full of tour groups rather than individuals … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The drums! The drums!

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Gary

Firstly, can I just say that one of the things I REALLY like about China is the fact that you can’t access Facebook or Twitter. It’s so nice to not have to keep logging on to see what people are … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cucumber? Really?

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Gary

Here’s the latest from the China Daily: I’m surprised about the banks. They seem to have enough people for all the other tiny little bits of bureaucracy. I’m sure they could spare a few thousand people to count some tiny … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Curried chicken and coconut

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Gary

Every morning, hanging on the door handle of our hotel room, there’s a copy of the China Daily newspaper. It’s an English language paper that collects stories from all over China and prints them in a small, easy to read … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bludge Day in Beijing

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Gary

Today I found a little slice of heaven in the heart of Beijing. And it only cost me 3 yuan. Mirinda and Sarah set off early for the conference this morning, the one that started this whole trip. When we … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Heaven in a hotpot

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Gary

The amazing hotpot was introduced to Beijing by the invading Mongols (after they managed to hop over the wall) in the 13th century and it’s been here ever since. And I can see why. It’s great fun, delicious and interactive. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Now that was odd…

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Gary

The photograph I took of the remains of my duck has somehow appeared on one of the hotel TV screens in the lobby. No text, just the image. It looks quite weird. I have no idea why or how they … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

祝你生日快乐

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Gary

The one thing that we all know about as undeniably Chinese is Peking Duck. Clearly, not everyone has tried it but the majority of people would have heard of it. And, by the way, the word ‘Peking’ is the Cantonese … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trains and dinosaurs

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Gary

Mirinda and Sarah left the hotel for a work thing and I set off for the Beijing Police Museum. Funny thing is, I never found it. Most things in Beijing that aren’t huge tourist things, are not signposted in English … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Re-writing history

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Gary

And then, as if by magic, I could once more access my blog. I very quickly updated it… Each day, at the Emperor Hotel, we are handed a slip of paper with the weather report on it for the next … Continue reading →

Posted in Beijing 2013, Gary's Posts | Leave a comment