Welcome

Dear visitors,

I have never had a blog before so welcome to my experiment. I hope it will be worth your while, but I highly doubt it.

My first entries in my blog will be the accounts of my astonishing China trip. Here is the first entry:

I made it to China. 16 + hours. I found my way by taxi to the Far EasternYouth Hostel in the heart of the of "Hutong" district ... the old narrow streets of old Beijing that are being torn down for the Olympics. Chinese are so smart in term of business that they have many wonderful hotel options including these. It has internet in the basement and the rooms are very basic. But it's in this old district. The narrow streets are packed with hawkers, shirtless men, men playing board games, little restaurants, fruit rines, garbage etc.. Lots of smells. It has a lot of ambiance.> > After a round of explosive diarrhea from airplane food, I recovered today and went to local restaurants which gave me some confidence as a I am travelling by myself so once I learned to do a few basic things I was okay. I visited the Great Mosque ( there are two hundred thousand Chinese Muslims). There I met two American teachers and went to visit a Buddhist monastery where we got to spend some time with a monk who had trained there and now lived in Sri Lanka. Then I ahd a locla dinner ... the food in China is quite delicious and, in the reataurants for the Chinese, fairly cheap.> > tonight I went to a teahouse near Tiannamen Sq. and saw some opera, acrobats, dancing and comedians with green tea and sweets.> > This evening was sweltering and the Hutong was rally alive. The narrow streets are quite dark and packed with people. Now that I have walked them alone successfully I feel more comfortable. I bought some Chinese medicine for the stomach. I hope it's the right kind. I made vomiting motions to the saleswoman to let her know my situation.> > Hillary