Day 6
Herbal medicines... great. Everyone loves hearing about how they're on the cusp of death. And how they can cheat death if they just take a few of these overpriced musty roots for a few months.
I say avoid answering questions clearly – try on their cold reading skills. They probably have profiles of common, plausible but difficult to disprove ailments for certain age groups.
The attraction for today was some pavilion. The highlight of that leg was a Chinese old guy taking photo of Caucasian baby. The mother was not pleased and forced him to delete the photos.
Later there was a 2.5 hour shopping stop at silk road. Same deal as usual - find something to do. Maybe sit down at Maccas. Go change money at a bank.
Lastly there was the optional show at Happy Valley. My mother and I didn't go in. Instead we had a walk through Tesco. Tesco bags up your bag inside a larger cloth bag and tags it with some sort of technology. This method reduces the need for lockers.
Anyway, there was some crazy traffic outside.
Oh where shall I sit?
Fully dimmable sun.
Herbal medicines... great. Everyone loves hearing about how they're on the cusp of death. And how they can cheat death if they just take a few of these overpriced musty roots for a few months.
I say avoid answering questions clearly – try on their cold reading skills. They probably have profiles of common, plausible but difficult to disprove ailments for certain age groups.
The attraction for today was some pavilion. The highlight of that leg was a Chinese old guy taking photo of Caucasian baby. The mother was not pleased and forced him to delete the photos.
Later there was a 2.5 hour shopping stop at silk road. Same deal as usual - find something to do. Maybe sit down at Maccas. Go change money at a bank.
Lastly there was the optional show at Happy Valley. My mother and I didn't go in. Instead we had a walk through Tesco. Tesco bags up your bag inside a larger cloth bag and tags it with some sort of technology. This method reduces the need for lockers.
Anyway, there was some crazy traffic outside.
Oh where shall I sit?
Fully dimmable sun.
Chaos in turning lanes. The third and sixth from left are lanes for left turning. Lanes four and five are for through traffic. Good planning... Not!
Day 7
The most appalling day of the week. We were on a coach for most of the day, getting to and from Chengde. Basically we visited a paddock. There was an unannounced cost of 50 yuan for the electric 'bus'. Some had flat tyres.
The 'guest' tour guide for today - some local woman - said it would take about 2 hours to walk and that those not interested in taking the bus should walk directly to the exit. Well, the hour spent in there only took us 2km. I think Chinese people don't like walking. Or something.
There was a temple at the top of a really steep road. Not much there either.
Stackage (this was actually on the main highway in the morning):
Appalling
Anyway, we were on the road since 1530 and encountered some traffic jams getting back to Beijing. We ended up disembarking the coach at 1945, but not for dinner. Instead we go for an 'absolutely free' foot massage. Of course there has to be some catch. People start coming out and try to peddle more herbal medicines. I get my laptop out and do a bit of programming on my MSP430 launchpad. One of the girls, dressed up in a lab coat, asked what I was doing. Strangely she was actually interested and didn't want to kick me out. Hmm.
Now another thought was why these highly regarded herbal doctors/professors would stay until 2100 to receive us. Surely if we missed the schedule, they'd just go home. We're not that important. Plus the group has a track record of being stingy. Ah, I suppose it's all in the headcounts. But both parties could have called it off. I don't think anyone was in any state to buy things.
Finally at 2105 we leave for dinner. There were chipped crockery and bugs too. Dinner takes an hour and we're bussed back.
The tour guide said give him the AUD10 per day tips based on however many days you think you should. Well definitely don't give for eight days, as I heard one man complain about but still submitted. I think the USD tips were slightly better value due to the exchange rate.
Food:
I had a bit of a laugh one morning to do with breakfast jams. I came up to the table where the toast is and take two small packets. Then a guy turns around and tells me that they're his. Whoops! It turns out he had made a bit of a collection and I mistook his plate for the main one, which was concealed by his torso. Hoarder! Well, I suppose it's representative of the kind of person who would go on a tour like this.
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