tiangao qishuang...

*the sky is high and the air is clear*

yes my friends, we have finally arrived in china...
let me backtrack a little bit...
hong kong was out of this world.
i left off the last blog on my way out to see the fireworks.
ohhh man, the show blew my mind.
i took videos and i will try to figure out a way to post them.
the finale video is over a minute long. the FINALE. it definitely put the annual morris fireworks to shame.
after the fireworks were over we hung around the harbour for a bit
a creepy man snuck pictures of me and buttered derek up so he could ask permission to take a picture with me and the creeper. haha.
we went back to our hostel and slept like sideways sardines after a couple of chinese king cans
played rock paper scissor for the two pillow and blankets that the three of us had to fight for.
(i won a pillow AND a blanket and slept like a queen)
the next morning derek and i met up with a friend of my uncles for lunch.
we went to a really cool japanese sushi restaurant and downed large chunks of the most raw fish i've ever seen.
after lunch with sparky we did some more shopping, went to a goldfish market in the rain, and then called it a day.
the next morning we woke up early and walked to the avenue of stars, put my hands in jackie chans' handprints, then we wandered into the hong kong art museum...
ate some amazing cream puffs in the mtr station...
did a lot of snacking this day come to think of it...candy wanted us to try every hong kong treat/drink/baked good.
after snacking all afternoon and buying film for my new camera (a holga) we hopped on a double decker tram around the city and then we met cara's parents for dinner.
they took us out for italian...tasted like home (a nice treat after a week of seafood)
the grand finale of the night was going to "the peak"
the view over hong kong is out of this world amazing.
we took a gazillion pictures, almost blew away in the ridiculous wind, and then went back to our hostel for our last night in the city.
the next morning we packed up and got on the 24 hour train to beijing.
i apparently caught a headcold, but luckily, after a few benadryl and gravol i slept over half of the train ride away!
we had hard sleeper berths on the train, but it was surprisingly cozy...we even had the softest blankets of this entire trip!

we arrived in beijing around 3 pm, almost got ripped off by some taxi driver, wanting to charge us 160 yuan to get to our hostel, when in reality it cost us less than 30 yuan (about $4).
settled in to our underground hostel in central beijing, and wandered around the area for a bit.
the next day we went wandering around the area and stumbled across the forbidden city and tiananmen square, but decided to come back on a day that's NOT a saturday.
today we went to the silk market...didn't buy much
tomorrow it's back to tiananmen square and the forbidden city and then off to the art district.
the day after that we're going to tackle the great wall of china
then a day of biking around beijing and an acrobatics show.
should be fun!
on thursday we are leaving for xi'an to see the terra cotta warriors and then it's off to kunming and then a few days later we should arrive in laos.
time is flying by...i'll be home before i know it.
until then i will embrace all that is china/laos/vietnam/cambodia/thailand/malaysia/tiawan.
love love love
fritz.