More non-Chinese

Shame on us. And this after just 4 weeks.

Hiking with BJ Hikers

We filled our lungs with lovely clean air today, courtesy of BJ Hikers. Who would have thought that just an hour's drive from our apartment, you could actually breathe and enjoy beautiful scenery, just like in Ithaca?!

How could we have forgotten to post these!?

We were able to visit the Olympics because Henk got tickets for the three of us! We saw men's qualifying gymnastics.

798 Art District

More backlogged photos. These are from our visit to the 798 Art District which is located in an old factory. Maybe Emmanuel can remind us what the uplifting message conveyed by the big red writing on the ceiling was again?



It's a shame that prices are at European/American levels here, otherwise we would have shipped the lady and her whale to team Wild.

圆明园

I am doing some fall cleaning on the computer, and it turns out we still have loads of fascinating pictures lying around:




Some time ago, we visited the Old Summer Palace, which is very close to Tsinghua University. The ruins were only slightly interesting, so no pics of them, but the waterlilies and surroundings were nice.

4 weeks in Beijing

Yesterday was our 28th day in China, and we celebrated by eating Indian food.

We found the market!

It seems like it is going to be another while before we get our pots and pans (apparently, we have to go to Beijing Customs first, then send our passports to the harbor, and then they will forward our stuff to us, but nobody had told us (at least, not in a language we understand)).
But once we get them, we know where to get things to put into the pots and pans:



Although we are not sure if the pigeons, maggots and crickets are meant for our consumption. Fortunately, they also sell meats (pork bellies galore!) and veggies.

Lunch!

A collection of photos from recent lunches.

Another meal from who-knows-when

This is from a restaurant near our apartment. The pork and beans in the little pot are extremely tasty, but perhaps considered inferior (it is called peasant food or something like that), which is good because it is therefore insanely cheap.

Sightseeing

Occasionally, we see some of Beijing's attractions. Like the day we took this picture. No clue when that was, but we do remember that it was Beihai Park.

We suck!

But we eat amazing food!

Apologies for the light posting. We actually have quite a few pictures that we haven't posted, but I can't even remember what some of it is. This one I do know:

DUCK! WONDERFUL DUCK!

Finally... photos of our new home!

It needed a bit more than Chinese style cleaning, hence the delay (removing dirty socks hidden under the guest bed is not part of regular cleaning, seemingly).

The doctor bed room:



The kitchen:

and its pretty door:

This can be your room:

The hallway and its lights of many colors and persuasions:



Towards the bathroom:

Inside the now clean bathroom:


And finally, the humongous living room of our humble dwelling:


The view includes children playing badminton. We will post photos of the saluting security guy in front of the entrance, and the dancing couples on our front lawn some other time.