My last free day in Beijing for this trip.  Been here 3 weeks now, 4 more sleeps now before I fly home.  I really like Beijing, but am really looking forward to getting home.

Looks like the last couple of days here are going to be cold and maybe snowy.   No doubt a foretaste of what it will be like when I come back in December.

Beijing, Summer Palance

About as adventurous as I’ve been with the eating here has been pig’s feet we had as part of lunch yesterday, which was quite ok.  We nearly talked ourselves into the spicy stirfried bullfrog, too, but wimped out.

PS …. I forgot to mention before, the scorpions were still wriggling.

Beijing, food, seahorse, scorpion, bullfrog

However, it eventually did stop snowing in the afternoon, so I caught the subway to Yuanmingyuan Park to have a look around.  As you can see, lots of snow there, too.

Not to mention a few snowfights going on, and the odd snowman.  And lots of workers to sweep snow off the paths.  And, did I mention, it was pretty damn cold?  I think it got to all of 2 degrees.  Tomorrow, its -6 to 3 degrees.

Beijing, snow, Yuanmingyuan, Old Summer Palace

That is the Bell Tower.  It dates back to 1272, although the building currently there was a reconstruction done in 1745 after the previous tower burnt down.  It is 48 metres high and inside is a bronze bell that weighs 63 tonnes and is 7 metres high.  It also requires you to climb a long steep flight of stairs to get up to the top.

This is a view across Lake Qianhai towards the Bell Tower and the nearby Drum Tower.

The area around the lakes is full of bars and restaurants.  Below is what one of them offers.

Really, what more could you possibly want?

Beijing, Shichahai, Houhai, Bell Tower

The pilots were out of communication with air-traffic controllers and their airline for more than an hour and did not realise their mistake until contacted by a flight attendant asking about making preparations for landing.  I bet that was one of those “oh shit” moments for the pilots.  Air-traffic controllers in Denver and Minneapolis repeatedly tried without success to raise the pilots of the flight by radio. Other pilots in the vicinity tried reaching the plane on other radio frequencies. Their airline tried contacting them using a radio text message that chimes.  Authorities became so alarmed that National Guard jets were readied for take-off at two locations.

Despite what the pilots claim happened, people are having difficult swallowing it.  Many aviation safety experts had said it was more plausible that the pilots had fallen asleep during the cruise phase of their flight  than that they had become so focused on a conversation that they lost awareness of their surroundings.

I’m not sure which fills me with less confidence about flying, the pilots distracted, arguing or falling asleep.

Northwest Airlines, pilots, Minneapolis

A bonus was the toboggan ride back down from the wall.  And yes, fast food in the form of Subway has found its way to the Great Wall of China … what next? A McDonalds on top of Uluru?

Great Wall, Mutianyu, Beijing, China

However, I can say with great certainty I won’t be trying the menu at Guolizhuang restaurant.  It specialises in penises, of many different animals, boiled, steamed, sauteed and fried.  Yummy!  (actually this place is quite close to where we ate last night).

Weekends are for sightseeing, and thats what I did today.  Specifically Yonghegong temple and Tiantan Park.  Here’s a photo of each.

Tomorrow, I’m off to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, which is about 90 km from the middle of Beijing.

Beijing, travel, Tiantin Park, Temple of Heaven, Yonghegong Temple, Lama Temple

Then there’s the important stuff, besides the work, like arranging a trip to the Great Wall on the weekend.  Or going out for lunch today and getting a heap of good food for all of $4.50 per person.

But there is a downside to being here.  No Facebook or Twitter.  You can’t access them here.

Beijing, travel, Twitter, Facebook

Shocking isn’t it?  Titillating in fact.  Woopitty do - she has breasts.  Amazing - she is a woman and most of them have a pair.

Nevertheless she felt the need to apologise for posting the picture, to anyone that was offended by her Twitpic.  Personally I’d have been inclined to tell them to suck it up and deal with it, plus get a life.

Meghan McClain, Twitter, Twitpic, breasts

I’ve been to KL a couple of times before, and really like it.  Malaysian food = yum!