Check out the photo gallery. Finally got the pictures from China uploaded. FTP server was down all of yesterday.

Todays trip to the Great Wall was to a section of the Wall where very few tourists went. The busy part (Badaling) was not recommended by the tour staff because it is mainly a section that has been rebuilt and is heavily visited by tourists. The section that we decided to do was the Sima Tai. It is further west of the Badaling and is a 10km stretch of preexisting wall. I had dinner with Ferran and Maria the night before and they wanted to do the trip as well so we set out at 6:30 a.m. to hike the Great Wall. The transportation to the Wall was an excruciating 3 hours. I say excruciating because people in China drive like mad men. Traffic laws exist but are rarely enforced. People weave in and out of traffic and the horn is a courtesy beep to let others know you’re cutting them off. Pedestrians have no right of way and if a driver sees you step out in front of them they will honk to let you know they are going to drive through you. So 3 hours of this was like clinging on for dear life. After we get there we are greeted by Mongolian guides there to offer their company for a price. They saw my camera and tripod a mile away and flocked me with there souvenirs. They basically follow you the entire trip trying to sell you books, postcards, water and soda for 100’s of Yen. I kept telling them no but for some reason when one trailed off another appeared. It was like they were working in shifts. After I ditched the third guide I was free to enjoy the rest of the hike. The wall was amazing. I had no idea that something that could stretch farther than the eye could see could be so magnificent. I couldn’t imagine the labor that went into building the entire thing. It was utter madness. The section we did was 10 km of broken steps and rubble. The 10km stretch covered about 30 towers. The initial hike from the valley to the wall was a painful 30 mins of sheer climbing. Once on the wall it was step after step of broken stone. I wanted to take a piece but was so tired at the end that I forgot. We reached our destination 4 hours later and had lunch at the Sima Tai Restaurant. It was probably one of the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had but I was so tired and hungry that it didn’t matter. We headed back to the hostel for some rest. Dinner was the best meal I’ve had while in Beijing. If you travel to Beijing you’ll have to try the Peking Duck. It was amazingly good. Tomorrow I head back to San Luis where I look forward to sleeping in my own bed again. Hopefully the 13 hour flight will not be as bad.

After getting to the hostel I quickly changed my reservation of a shared dormitory to a single bedroom. I figured I would treat myself as I have been staying in 4-star hotels for the past few days. The hostel room was nowhere near 4-stars but for $25 a night I couldn’t complain. I checked my stuff, took a quick shower and headed towards Tianamen Square. I called Mao who didn’t have plans. Tianeman Square was a 15 minute walk from the hostel. After some quick pictures I met Mao at ironically the Mao Zedong portrait. After checking out the Square for about 20 minutes we headed for the Forbidden City just 10 mintues north of the Square. The Forbidden City is at the center of Beijing and is an architectural monument of dynastic China. The city was amazingly beautiful and elegant. Many of the bigger buildings were being reconstructed for presentation at the upcoming summer Olympics in 2008. The city is guarded by a 78 foot wall that surrounds the entire premise. After leaving the city I had lunch with Mao before wishing him off to his hotel. He helped me book a bus ticket to the airport as I couldn’t speak Chinese to the agent. On the walk back to the hostel I met a nice couple from Barcelona (Ferran and Maria). They could not find their hostel so I was kind enough to walk with them there. I had noticed it earlier when i got lost looking for mine. Hopefully we will meet up tommorrow. I have reserved a trip to the Great Wall. The cost was 185 Yen (about $25).

Today I got the experience of riding the overnight Z class train from Shanghai to Beijing. At first glance the train was amazingly clean. I purchased a ticket for roughly 500 yen which is equivalent to about $60. The train cabins were split into 4 beds each with its own blanket, pillows and slippers. It initially was pretty warm when I got there. We were warned by the train mechanic that he was working on fixing the AC so it was basically a sweatbox for a few hours. I managed to meet a young man name Mao Yong who was very friendly and eager to learn English. We talked for a few hours about the country of China and everything U.S. including basketball. It turned out that Mao was a big fan of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls one of my favorite teams. It came out to be that he was a thermo nuclear engineer travelling with his boss on business to Beijing then heading to Mongolia the next day. It was a pleasant change speaking English to someone who had the eagerness to learn. I promised him that I would keep in touch. We exchanged business cards. 12 hours later we comfortably reached our destination of Beijing.

We arrived in Hangzhou today via train from Shanghai. Hangzhou is a splendid city located in the zhejiang province. The office building was a pleasant change from the skyscrapers of Shanghai. We arrived pretty late in the afternoon so I didn’t have much time to ge any work done there. We had a little time to visit Westlake which is considered one of China’s scenic wonders. I had the opportunity to bike around the lake which roughly covers 3 square miles. The town situated around the lake caters to tourism and is very serene compared to the fast paced life of Shanghai. Our quick bike trip around the lake was then followed by dinner at a local restaurant. Here I got to try food that I would never see on a menu in the United States. Some of the items were lotus roots, jellyfish, duck tongue, sheep and frog. Some of the dishes were a little odd I must say. I did try all of them however. The coworkers at the office were pleasant to talk to during dinner. Each one of them had an eagerness to learn English. A few were taking classes a few days a week and were more than happy to practice there conversational tongue with me. If only I could speak Chinese. So far Hangzhou has been my favorite part of this trip. I leave for Beijing tommorrow night.

I moved hotels last night from the Ramada to the Marriott. The Ramada had no internet access which is a bummer when your colleagues are working when you’re trying to sleep. Anyways the Marriott Courtyard in Shanghai is much nicer. It is situated on the East side of the Pudong river and is two subway stops from the office. I had the great opportunity to ride the subway this morning and to make a long story short it is worse than the New York subway system. Its basically a bum rush to get in and out at stops. I think after I get off work today I’ll head down to the Pudong and snap some night shots of the skyscrapers along the riverbank.

I had no idea Shanghai was such a big city. I arrived at the Pudong airport and find out the hotel is an hour drive away. After weaving our way through traffic I finally make it to my hotel at the Ramada Plaza hotel in downtown Shanghai. The area that the hotel is in is like no other. Stepping out onto Nanjing Road is like swimming in a sea of a thousand people. Now I know why China is the land of nearly 2 billion. After checking out the financial district called the Bund I decide to head back to the hotel for some much needed rest. Shanghai is as much a modern city to China as New York is to the United States. Its skyscrapers expand past where the eye can see. Lights gleam at night much like that of Las Vegas. Shanghai is the epitome of modern day industrialization. Massive buildings flood throngs of onlookers as they weave in and out of dark corners. I will take sunny California over Shanghai any day More to come tommorrow after I can shake off the jetlag.

It’s roughly 7:30 am and I’m still getting ready for my transcontinental flight to Shanghai. I haven’t been up this early in awhile so I’m still a little tired. Hopefully the 13 hour flight to China will help alleviate that. I’ll be there for roughly 9 days with a side trip to Beijing. Hope to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. I’ll post some pictures once I get set up over there.