In China

Very Near Shang Di November 1, 2007 There I was, minding my own business when I got an Email. There was a team building outing that was at a “natural area”. While team-building can go either way, after another week in Beijing, a “natural area” sure sounded inviting, so I signed up. Double Dragon Gorge Somewhere West of Beijing Saturday, November 3, 2007 First, it’s a long way away. It took nearly three hours by bus, through mountains (and one unexpected detour due to construction)....

Haidian District October 31, 2007 From both my work friends and my hotel friends, there were a lot of questions about Halloween that I was not able to answer at a deep enough level. Just the cursory stuff that everyone can easily look up. Of course, what everyone was looking for was a way for me to communicate the “experience” of Halloween. To my mind, this isn’t really possible. I hope my reluctance to share hasn’t been taken as rude… it’s just not easy to express…...

Bread I think of bread as being anywhere between San Fransisco sourdough to rye to Wonder white. Potato Bread, cottage, Italian sesame loaf, split top country, English muffins, bagels; hard or soft, biscuits; dropped or cut. Even the low carb options that are not really bread at all would be much appreciated in this place of rice and noodles. Wait though, it’s not that bread doesn’t exist. There’s a lot of bread here....

For those who saw the pictures as they were still uploading, they now have more captions, and show up “in order”. 27 October 2007 North East Beijing Territory Some people from work were talking about a Great Wall Hike. I was reluctantly invited to go along, after being told many times that it would be a lot of up and down, and it’s very strenuous… Gubeikou The group starts off at a break-neck pace, and I become winded almost immediately....