Finally here

So i'm in beijing! Yay! But as on par with the rest of thsi week im still having problems. Just as you could guess! I arrive at the hostel the beijing backpackers hostel. The best place in beijing by far. but of course there was a slight problem. In china when you stay in a hotel you must show a passport, to prove you are not illegal. Kinda dont understand but i can kinda relate. Well I guess you understand why that is an issue. I head to the Embassy and they were helpful and straitened it out. So when i get a passport ill be able to gie the copy to the hostel. Which turns out to take 5 days to 10 days. So im not traveling anywhere I am just going to well... wait here.

So the next day i went to meet Chenwei. My awsome cool pretty beijing friend. We meet at Tian'anmen. What i was never prepared for was how freakin cold beijing is. I was wearing everything i owned and i was so freakin cold. Luckily someone came up to me and sold me a hoodie sporting the Beijing 2008 logo, a pair of ear muffs and gloves. Yea that was as affective as a match in a Blizzard. Well we went to see the grand Leader Mao. I don't know if that is the proper title. But it was good. A little wait in line and we got to see the leader. The casket was very different than what I expected. He was much smaller than i expected, and his head looked a little large. But i think that had to do with the optics or the light. Im not sure. Two armed guards and others to shuttle people along. We only got to see him for a few seconds before it was over.

Afterward we went for Hotpot. Chenwei knew of a wonderful restaurant. IT was very good. Hot pot is a chinese dish. Take a big bowl of water and fill it with diff veggies for flavor. Put it over a fire and let it come to a boil. then take an array of food from slices of raw meat, veggeis, tofu, etc. Dump it in and let it cook! That simple and it really is good. Its also nice that you can cook it personally to your taste.

We went to the embassy. Of course that was not perfect. Turns out the pictures i brought were not the right size. So i had to go to find a photostore. But wonderfully the map given to me was terrible. So that took forever in the cold to take care of. I made it back to the embassy 3 min before it closed. Yea it was that freakin close.

Next it was shoppiing chenwei and i went to a small market. She helped me find long underwear. It was wonderful. Little awkward because the only place that sold it also sold rather exotic ladies undies. Which if you know me makes me a little uneasy...
But that aside it was WONDERFUL. OH MY WORD UNDERWEAR IS AWSOME! it made life so wonderful here. well it was no longer cold.

ok so the rest of the time. I had dinner with an australian at an Indian Restaurant. I had dinner with another Aussie at another restaurant where we had dog. Yes dog. And i am sure it was the most cute cuddly and adorable dog that could be found. And yes it was good. The meat is soft, flavorfull and a little light. I really like it. Yea yea start flaming.

One thing that is difficult is that beijing has few restaurants. Yes there are a ton of fancy places. BUt the little 5koai noodle shops are hard to find. Or at least i think so. In wuhan every other place is a little shop where you can buy a quick bowl of noodles or rice. Yea i have found one but it was only one. Suprising. Mabye i just don't see em.

I bought a camera. Nikon D60 with a 18-55 & 55-200 lens, 2 Uv filters, tripod, extra battery for about 800. More than i should of and im trying hard not to second guess myself and thinking i should of purchased the D40 and saved 50$ or any of that kind of mess. I am happy with the camera. It is a nikon its what i wanted. Good lens coverage. Keep in mind pricers are much higher in china. Who would of guessed that stuff like that is MORE expensive in china. We usually think of china as being cheaper.

Side note. It turns out the left shift key on my keyboard stopped working. not a problem i have another shift but damn that gets anoying.

So now im charging the batteries. It feels good to have that done. Tommow i can't wait to go and try to get some panoramics of the forbidden city.

Well to all a good night.