China Insert

Welcome to the world of non-linear blogging. I apologize for not posting using some sort of chronological methodology, but my brain works in ways that common physiological science could never hope to understand.

I've decided to post some pictures of the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Great Wall of China, and the Panda Research and Breeding Facility outside of Chengdu in Sichuan Province. These particular events occured in order as they've been listed, but I can't guarantee any continuity beyond this intial indication.

The Forbidden City. What can be said? Quite a bit actually, but I've grown tired of writing about the Great Wall in the section below. Remember - Non-Linear!

Everybody's favorite under-appreciated tyrant.


We were told that the common tourist areas of the Great Wall had been rennovated, so we decided to take a tour that would send us to a portion that was far less visited. We sat in a small van for two hours, eating dumplings out of a plastic bag, and wondering if anyone in China ever saw the sun. Pollution turned to clouds, and clouds to mist and fog. I assumed at this point that China now owned the little bright ball in the sky, and that like dissent and revolt, the Chinese government just didn't want the Chinese to experience the bright and colorful rays of the sun. The gray of the clouds matches all of the sterile buildings in China anyway. We arrived, engaged in a great hike in the misty mountains, didn't see any Hobbits, observed an untouched portion of the wall, and returned to the city below to eat a great meal prepared by some the friendly locals.

From the huge capital of China to the huge city of Chengdu, we moved like fat Buddha's in the wind. Here we find more friendly Chinese people, the hottest food known to mankind, pandas, and an old Buddhist temple where the weary traveler can sit in a picturesque courtyard and drink green tea until the next Chinese tyrant in appointed and tea becomes illegal.