B-N-D Overseas

B: So the train showed up in Beijing early morning August 31, 2007. We negotiated a taxi ride to the Holiday Inn (thanks Mom!) by paying with a combination of Chinese Yuan, Russian Rubles and probably a few leftover Polish Zoltys. When we got to the hotel, we found we got a free upgrade (thanks Mom's platinum status), got two free drinks at the hotel bar and checked out the breakfast buffet. Oh man, after a week on a train from Russia, nothing looked or tasted better than a wide variety of delicious Western delicacies and a USA Today. We spent most of the day in bed watching the first English language television we'd seen since the Netherlands (CNN, Big Love on HBO).

D: I had never any intest in Anderson Cooper or Bill Paxton but thanks to Asia, they are both VERY well covered. Well, need I intrest you in the need for Jean Claude Van Damm or Stephen Segal??? Well, maybe not. Come to China.

My my...where to start. Well...what about right out our front door. There were about three pizza joints right outside. HAVE NOT been to one yet!

B: While we saved our first trip to Chinese Pizza Hut until Yichang a month later, we did get a glimpse of how Chinese pizza places keep their staff in line:

D: They keep their staff on point. Do not move, do not breathe, do not make a bad pizza...

B: We went out for a walk and checked out the neighborhood mulatongs. They're how most of the local Beijing'ers eat.

D: Bill and I got into how to explain "mulatong". The best way to describe "mulatong" is as a "hot pot". Hot pot is a very Chinese way of cooking food. It is, very simply, a hot pot of water with spices that you dip sticks of meat or vegitables in. You can get a pot of water with hot spices or savory spices in any restuarant. You can also get it on the street for half a yuan (less than 10 cents a stick)...which is a better deal and you can make friends.

But watch out...Mulatong can be yummy and spicy and delicious and ALL those things...but it can also make you sit on the toilet all day long. That is not somthing I have observed, but somthing that common Beijingers observe.

B: All she's saying is be cautious. We were scared to eat on the street the first time we visited, now we wouldn't do anything else. If the place is crowded with Chinese people, cool, pick skewers to your heart's content. If there's no one there: beware!!!

D: Can ANY of my friends that do hair tell me...WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS???????

B: On Sept. 2 we taxied over to the Sunday Panjiayuan Market. A lot of tourists check the place out for the usual Chinese kitch. We even ran into a guy from Oklahoma. To attract attention (at least that's why we think they do it) many shopkeepers keep huge chirping crickets in cages outside their shops.

D: Jesi and Dori--ooohhhh! Gross!

Typical Chinese...doing their job. Hey...there's a billion of them. If one ain't working, who notices?

B: This WAS a very typical hutong. In Beijing, a hutong is a traditional neighborhood within the city. Families spent generations in their neighborhoods. It is typical for three or four generations of a family to live in one complex. General stores, restaurants, beauty shops and public bathrooms mix with the homes to create a community. They are being knocked down and replaced with skyscrapers as we type to turn Beijing into a "modern" city and show the world when they arrive this summer for the Olympics that China is a world-class destination.

D: These are beautiful hutong pictures, and we have so many to share. But I think that what many of you do not understand, is that with modernisation we are tearing apart what TRULY makes Beijing magical.

I was so sad, when we rolled (bikes) through some of the old hutong and they were gone. I'm embarassed to say this, but I was sad to tears. People were displaced and had no place to do business or congregate like they had for many years before.

B: These are only a few pictures of hutongs and we'll have plenty more to come. The point is that they're the major reason we loved Beijing and they're on their way out. We'll try to explain as best we can why it's such a tragedy what the government is doing to them in the name of "progress."

Dude...I am not sure where to start. This was one of the kindest and nicest Chinese men we met. He also had the BEST food EVER!!!! This guy pulls stools for us to sit on and sent his friendly mutt to watch our bikes. This guy made the best "chinese hamburgers" i.e. steamed bums with meat and veg. He and his wife also made the best veggie corn fritters and fried pork sausage while we watched the scared Western tourst pass by on tourist rickshaws and yelled, "DON'T BE SCRAED...THE BEST FOOD IS RIGHT HERE!!!" The only thing we know is the best food and the kindest people were in the hutongs...plus you can get two-for-one beers...ask me how!

Aww, no slurpees!

The Chinese national pastime of Majhong.

Chinese parking lot.

The Forbidden City.

D: I'll give you 100RMB ($14) if you can tell me what's wrong with this picture. Keep in mind we are at a World Heritage Site and the literal heart of China...

Any guesses?

Keep going...

Come on....

Someone....

Oh you can't...

No you can't...

Maybe you did...(Jonathan)...

If you guessed this...