I asked about the bathing suit factory the family owns. The son said there are about 100 people that work there. It sounds like a small factory by Chinese standards. It was kind of awkward when a English tutor came in this morning to teach the son some English. The son has a private teacher, …
Author Archives: Lon
Day 154 – Beijing
I bought a coat ($13), hat ($1), and gloves ($3) today from the local supermarket today. It is getting colder and colder so I need to have something clothing to keep me alive outside, but still something I can throw away when I go someplace warmer. I think pretty good prices for brand new stuff? …
Day 150-153 – Beijing
I started my group Chinese classes this week. Right now group means me and a 28 year old guy from Spain. He seems a lot farther ahead than me since he had 5 weeks of classes, 5 hours per day here in Beijing before this week. My schedule is 9:00AM – 12:00, Monday through Friday. …
Day 149 – Fragrance Hills Park
This morning, the mother brought out some crabs for breakfast and said they cost 100 Yuan each ($13). I notice the scar on my thumb from the last time I ate one, but tried anyway. A few minutes later she asks me to read to her daughter this afternoon. It seems like this is an …
Day 148 – The Forbidden City
Keeping up with my sightseeing marathon, I visited one of the other major attractions in China, the Forbidden City, otherwise known as The Palace Museum. This is the place where the emperors lived for a few hundred years and the country was governed. I wanted to go on a weekday, but ended up going on …
Day 147 – Great Wall (again)
I left early today to go the Badaling section of the Great Wall, which is different from the place I went before. I went to the tour bus station again and left at 8:30AM or so. First stop was a rundown amusement park where they said we have an hour and a half to stay. …
Day 144-146 – Beijing
I got a mobile phone today. Well, actually I’m borrowing one of the family’s old phones, a Nokia 7260. However I did have to buy a SIM card for $20 ($15 for the card plus $5 of prepaid time). It works out to 3 cents per minute for local calls using the prepaid credit. Text …
Day 143 – Beijing
Today I visited Yonghe Temple and the next door Confucius Temple. The Yonghe one was almost like an art museum since there was so much to see there. The Confucius one was more like a museum where I could learn about the life of Confucius and his legacy. Too bad I mostly have photos of …
Day 142 – Beijing
Today is a rest day at the house. It has been quite cold lately in and outside. The boilers aren’t running yet, so there is no eat inside the building. At the same time, the family opens up some of the windows during the day even though the high temp is in the mid-50’s Fahrenheit. …
Day 141 – Great Wall
I was planning on visiting the Eastern Qing Tombs today, but after waking up early and rushing to the sight seeing bus station, I found out the last bus ran last week for that location. It sounds like it is a summer only thing and the low season officially starts November 1. Kind of disappointing, …