Saturday, September 13, 2008

Back in the Saddle

Thank you all for your words of encouragement. I've been steadily feeling better the last two days and I'd say I've pretty much got this thing beat. It's a good thing too because there's a lot to see and a lot to eat here. How can a trip to Beijing be complete without Peking Duck?

I got out for a little while yesterday and saw the Forbidden City and Tian'an Men Square. Surprisingly, Tian'an Men reminded me a lot of the Mall in Washington DC. A big open space in the capital surrounded by government buildings, monuments, and museums. Although the plethora of Red Army soldiers patrolling the square was slightly off-putting. They've also got this big picture of this balding Chinese guy on the main gate to the square. I don't know, he must be someone important... :)

Speaking of pictures, the hostel computers here can't seem to support downloading pictures off of my camera. One computer doesn't have a USB port (Whaa...?!?) and the other was averaging infinity minutes per picture. So I may have to do a big download when I get to Japan. We'll see.

In addition I had a minor scare this morning as I took the subway all the way across the city only to realize my camera wouldn't turn on. I thought maybe something from the hostel computer had infected my camera but when I got back to hostel I discovered to my relief that it was only the battery that had died. I guess those infinity minutes per picture had drained the battery a bit...

If I ever get out of here, the plan is to see the Olympic Pavilion and the Temple of Heaven today. Tomorrow's a long day at... the Wall!

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