Southward Bound
Okay…run down…Putuo Shan was awesome. Clear sky, nice soft beaches, cool Buddhist temples. Everything that makes a Marc happy. From Putuo Shan I took a bus to Shanghai. Bus was stopped at the entrance to the Ningbo Expressway for at least an hour. Developed a gnarly cough in Shanghai and a fever that kept me in bed for almost two days (okay…between my own bed and the couches in the common area). Ate nothing but three pears and cough drops those days and finally fainted while chatting with Mike after some lady lit up a cig. Got a soda from a guy from Australia and started to feel better. A bowl of noodles and I was further on the mend.
Shanghai was loud. Especially the hostel I was staying in. I swear, most of the people there treated it like it was a college dorm. I had about one good day in Shanghai though with the company of my friend Forgetter before hopping on a train to Beijing. In Beijing I spent a week in a suburb absorbing the fresh air before moving into a cheap hotel in a touristy neighborhood downtown.
Had fun in BJ. Saw Tiananmen, the Forbidden City, Chairman Mao’s dead body (looked like he had too much makeup on, if you ask me). A few days ago I hopped off to the Great Wall. Was crazy beautiful with a bank of fog teasing the view. Ended up climbing up the Steps of Heaven and Eagle’s Point plus a few cliff faces. Got a little hairy in some places, but I lived to type this post (in no small part thanks to the efforts of a Hunanese girl and a fellow from who knows where).
Went off to Tianjin for a few days. Interesting neighborhoods but I’m glad to be back in Beijing on my way to Shanghai. I figure a few days there before heading back to Wuhan. Another few days there, then Guangzhou. HK for a week maybe then start work in Taiwan.
On my way South, Baby ^_^
