Beijing, China

Lisa and I just got back from a week in Beijing China, where I was traveling with the US Olympic Fencing team to the Good Luck Games. This was the dry run for the Olmpics, so that Beijing could make sure all the bugs are worked out before hand. It was only a small team, so we had plenty of time to take in the sites of Beijing, or at least those that we could actually make out through the pollution induced haze. It was definitely an interesting experience, especially feeling like a minority for the first time; and also finally being a tall person! We went to the early morning flag raising at Tianemen Square, and were probably the only Caucasians in a crowd of many thousand Chinese. We were able to see the Great Wall, the Ming tombs, the Summer Palace, Tianemen Square, Mao himself reposing in his crypt, the Llama temple, and sampled many wares and food at the night market in downtown Beijing. Adventurous Lisa even took the subway around by herself, and found her way to the only branch of the church in Beijing for Sunday's services. We sampled many authentic Chinese dishes, included KFC (yes, we really did, no other places were open late when we finished one of our shopping trips to the knock off emporiums.) All-in-all it was a great trip and an interesting experience to see another part of the world. We brought back many souveniors, the main one being all the crud in our lungs from breathing the industrial fumes of the city! I think we lost 5 years life expectency in that one week! And yes, the below picture is of cooked lizards, seahorses, bugs and snake. Yummy!