| | Dear Friends:
So I'm a little late but Happy Holidays everyone!
My parents are here visiting me and relatives. Not much has been going on, as evidenced by the lack of posts. But I'm going to Japan next week with the parents so hopefully that will generating posting material.
For Christmas, I went to the Great Wall with my friend Julia and her boyfriend Tom because when in China ...
Last time I went to the Great Wall I was 12 and we took a cable car up and down Badaling (the super touristy part of the Wall) so I only climbed a whopping 100 meters to earn my tshirt, which I have since lost.
What we hiked - a part of the wall in Huairou, 2 hours north of Beijing
On the wall
I'm working on the jumping pictures...slowly
This is a wilder part of the wall than most tourists see. Look at this precarious brick with no mortar on it...not a good ledge to hold onto
Inner peace on the wall...would be awesome to do yoga here
One highlight of the trip was the truck ride from the post-hike area to the bus back. Note to self: when I grow up, must buy a truck to take kids around
post-hike ramen eating. We tried going to this yummy vegetarian restaurant but they were having a big blow-out Christmas Eve buffet. Apparently Christmas is a big going out holiday in China.
After a long hike, I went to Christmas Mass at St. Joseph's on Wangfujing. The scene getting into the church was complete madness. The street was packed with party-goers and window-shoppers. The church was all lit up and flashbulbs were going off constantly so it felt like paparazzi outside some movie premiere. We had to squeeze and push our way through the crowd just to get inside the church. Thankfully we had tickets, thanks to some friend's guanxi. Inside, I was the only person that didn't take pictures. Most people were wearing their outer coats it was so cold, and the security/ushers wore stadium jackets with a big Jesus on the crucifix image emblazoned on the back. The whole ceremony was kind of formal and wacky at the same time. We were treated to songs by the worst harmonized and rehearsed (if dedicated) group of choir singers ever. The priest walked in under a canopy and these kids dressed up as angels threw petals on him. When communion was offered, a cute old man next to me asked me if I was Communist to which I replied, "No". Then he told me I could go take communion (since Commmunists can't take communion). When I explained I wasn't Catholic, he entreated my (Catholic) friend to convert me for "life should have meaning". By the end of the night, my knees were buckling from standing and I was ready to pass out. We went to McDonald's after to celebrate. All-American Christmas right? All in all, it was an interesting experience and it was fun singing the English versions to all the Christmas songs.
Happy New Year everyone!
PS: how do I get flickr to get rid of the awful blue borders on the pictures?
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| | Posted 1/2/2007 11:24 AM - 26 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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