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Mitch's good friend, Brian, came from Iowa for an awesome 9 day visit to China. He arrived on Friday night and after a day of recovering from the flight we headed off for some good times in China.
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On Sunday, before heading to the soccer game, we stopped at our favorite local street vendor area for some lunch. Can't beat the hot tasty chow mein and a beer for less than a buck!
Ji'nan Soccer Game and Tai Shan
On Sunday, Debbie, Rick, Brian and I met up with Brian Grosman and his family for a soccer game in Ji'nan. Brian G. is from Minnesota and he's been in Ji'nan with his family for 2.5 years doing a TCM program. The soccer teams, Ji'nan Huaneng and Dalian Shide are both part of the Chinese Super League. The game was pretty exciting and the crowd, though tame compared to other pro soccer, hockey, or football games, still made it lively. Ji'nan won 2-0!
The next day, Brian and I headed down to the city of Tai'an to head up Tai Shan (Shan=mountain). We were going to do a more involved hike on the mountain, but our bus to Tai'an was in a minor crash which delayed our arrival. Instead, we enjoyed the the lazy-man's route of bus and gondola to get the majority of the way up and down the mountain. The day was quite clear so the views were pretty different compared to the last visit here. (You can pause the slide show below and skip forward and backward at your own pace if you choose. Hold the cursor over the black strip just above the picture to reveal the control buttons).
Qingdao
After a day in Tai'an, Brian and I hopped a bus back to Ji'nan to catch a bullet train out to Qingdao. This coastal city will be hosting the Olympic sailing events later this summer. Qingdao is also famous for brewing up the popular Tsingtao beer (though you'd better pronounce it "Qingdao" if you want to avoid any confusion when ordering one of these beers :). We spent a day here wandering the famous Zhonshan Park which had it's cherry trees in full bloom while we were there. We also took a long stroll down along a couple of Qingdao's many bays and beaches. We must have come across at least 7 couples getting their wedding pictures taken down by the sea. Lots of fishermen, and lots of others just enjoying a walk by the water. The city was pretty quiet on the Wednesday we were in the city. Thursday morning was the start of a national holiday and all of a sudden Qingdao was swarmed with locals and tourists. The esplanade and beaches and piers were literally jammed with people out to enjoy some fresh sea air and views and a day off.
Beijing
On Thursday afternoon we headed to Beijing from Qingdao. We made it into the city Thursday night and set up in our hotel quite close to the center of the city. On Friday we headed over to tour around Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. Again, quite packed with tourists, but the sights were pretty wicked. Guards were everywhere, lots of bullhorns, crowd control was essential but effective. Brian and I continued to develop a celebrity complex as we were asked to be in several photos. They flattered by saying things like, "very handsome!" Though through the week we also heard, "Hey long leggers!" and also noticed people checking out our "freakishly large" feet. The Forbidden City was huge, over 800 buildings. So many temples and housing quarters and gardens...it went on and on. But we managed to see a good bit of it. Fantastically ornate and, by some people's opinion, quite excessive. Regardless, certainly a site worth seeing.
On Saturday, we awoke to a big thunderstorm with heavy rain and winds. We debated but decided we had to see the Great Wall despite the conditions. The weather turned out to be advantageous while visiting the Mutianyu section of the Wall. We had virtually the entire wall to ourselves. And the wind and mist created a unique atmosphere for our visit. Quite an experience to be there. Still can't believe we saw and were on the Great Wall!