The Great Wall

Nihao! We are just back at the hotel after our weekend of sightseeing around the Beijing area. We're getting ready to play cards in one of the rooms, kind of in the way we saw people playing cards in their storefronts last night. A few quick updates: We are over the jet lag, all healthy, and GE Healthcare has joined the companies that do not want us to visit due to the flu. The weather cooled off which was great for the sightseeing, and we are our skills at crossing hectic roads is improving as are our chopstick skills. We have employed a few Mandarin phrases, our favourite of which is "bu hao" meaning "not good". If you are late for a group meeting you will be bu hao'd!

Renee, who expertly coordinates this trip for us received a funny email today. It was from the Great Wall. Nope, I am not kidding. Aparently the Wall didn't want us to pay it a visit because of the flu. Too bad for the wall that we have already visited it.

So. The sighseeing. We've been all over including Tianenmen Square, the Forbidden City, Beihai Park, a perl market, a clothing market, Ho Hai district, the Summer Palace, and the Great Wall. The highlights for me have been climbing the stairs of the Great Wall, and the scale and sheer grandeur of the Forbidden City. We had a blast at the markets where we got to test out our bargaining and negotiating skills bartering for everything from jewlery, to fake designer bags, to knock off brand-name clothes. Last night in the Ho Hai district we were the majority of the patrons in a pub where we took over the stage and hosted our own open mic night. We called it "Luigistock" in honour of one of our fellow students on this trip, Luigi, whose birthday is coming up.

Time for me to go and catch up with the card game. Tomorrow morning we are having a meeting at the Canadian embassy, adn then since our visit with GE healthcare is off I'm not sure what our new plan will be. Dinner will be the Peking duck feast!

Bye for now!