JAZZY'S TRAVELS

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*Disclaimer: please excuse all typos or the way this may look when posted on my webpage. I am working on a computer where everything is in Chinese, and I'm unable to look at my webpage because the Chinese websearch (or the Chinese government for that matter) doesn't seem interested in finding www.jazzytraveler.blogspot.com*

So, after being in Beijing for 3 days I've decided a few things.

1) If you ever travel to China with a baby, you don't need to bring diapers. Thats not because they have lots, but rather because they don't use them. The kids just run around with a big slit in their pants. Honestly it's not like it opens and closes either, it's open all day long. Which means two things: 1) the baby can go to the bathroom at anytime 2) you can see the baby's butt all day long (if you so choose). I have yet to see how mothers handle their child's spontaneous "releases", and well...I'm fine with that.

2) Everybody in China wears pants. It could be 80 degrees (or shall I say 35 degrees celcius) and everyone has pants and long sleeves on. I mean I'LL even be hot and everyone will have jackets on. I've noticed a few girls with short skirts on here and there, but they just make me wonder...

3) Smog is the worst thing on the planet. When I come back I'm buying an electric car, and we can all thank Beijing for my change of heart. It will not however, look like this:


4) Do not come to China during their national holiday week. I thought a holiday week would be busy but fun because there would be festivals and parades etc. Nope, it's just busy. It's just a week when all the Chinese travel and nothing more. I don't know who's working 'cause from the looks of it, they're all in Tiannamen Square.

5) A sleeping sack is worth every penny.

6) Everybody in China has little dogs. Every dog is a shitzu or some sort of ugly little thing. There aren't even any cute little j.b.'s, all just rats. Rudder would have a hayday chasing them around, and I would probably have just as much fun watching ;P

7) Ex-Pat bars aren't a bad thing. The second night I was here a girl from my hostel and I went to a local bar area which had a lot of ex-pat (ex-patriot: people who are from the U.S. or some other country and now live abroad. Whether that's because they no longer like their home country, I don't know. Real definition) bars. I used to be anti mostly because I felt that when you're traveling you should emerse yourself in the culture, but this trip I've realized that sometimes you need a little taste of home, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Now, it may seem like I'm not that into Beijing, and although I've been having a good time and been seeing some beautiful sites...I'm really not that into Beijing. Maybe it's because its smoggy and busy, or maybe it's because I'm more in the mood for green rolling hills and tropical beaches, either way I'm kinda ready to move on.

Tomorrow I'm going to hike along the Great Wall for a few hours. I'm excited because it's a part of the wall that hasn't been completely restored. Last time I was here I went to a part near Beijing which was a total tourist trap, it also looked brand new, so it really wasn't that "great". This time it should be nice. So it seems my last day in Beijing won't actually be in Beijing since this part of the wall is about 3 hours away...I'm okay with that :P

On Wednesday (your Tuesday- unless you aren't reading this in the U.S.) I'll be heading to Chengde. It's not a fantastic town, but it has a lot of temples and a particular buddist statue I'd really like to see. After that I plan to head southwest to Datong and then to Xian. I'm really excited about the southern and southeastern part of the country, so I'm looking forward to all the long crowded train rides I have in store... no really I am.

Although I figured some things out about Beijing, there are a lot of things that still baffle me.

For example, why the staring????!! I mean it seems like there are a lot of westerners around town, why are they still staring? It has got to get tiring.

In relation to the staring, ,why do people want pictures with me? Are they making fun of me without my knowing it? Today at the Forbidden City at least 2 groups tried to secretly take pictures of me by standing really close, and one group actually asked. I agreed to take a couple pictures with them, but should I? Or, am I just making a fool of myself?

Another thing that is odd is that everyone talks about how great it is to travel alone, yet everyone is with someone. I think I've seen one westerner roaming alone in all of the tourist traps I've been to over the past few days. This helped me realize (and I must say I would have been happier without this epiphany) that it would be harder to adjust to being a loner than I originally thought. At the end of my first full day (Saturday) I was tired and really just wanted someone to talk to. That night my roommate and I hungout and went to the bar. I had a great time, and I came to see that all I really need is a good conversation with someone every now and then, and I'm quite content being on my own. I think it's the days at a time that will make it hard. So far my own head has been good company, and although I occassionally wish people where here to share it with me, I've been wishing that much less then I thought I would. It is still only the first week so we'll have to see what rollercoaster ride my emotions will take. But in the meantime, things are going great...I will say one thing thought, I'm definitely going to have to get a cell phone, calling home from China is waaaaay too hard.