Stinky Market

Last weekend we took a trip to the "Stinky Market." This isn't the "official" name, but it is what is called among foreigners. Interesting enough when we left the Stinky Market we saw a girl about 8 years old squatting and peeing right by the entrance to the market. Why not? What a perfect place to pee.

This man had a "shop" to make and repair shoes outside the market.

Apparently you can also have some type of foot procedure outside the market on the sidewalk.

Want meat? Notice, no refrigeration & it was about 75 degrees.

Pig head anyone? Typically there is dog and dog head for purchase, but the shop was closed.

Seafood?

At least the shrimp is on ice. This is what we purchased.

A whole chicken minus the feathers?

Maybe just the feet?

Or the head?

These are all ready to go sitting on the dirty dirty floor.

Three feet away you can also purchase fruit & veg.

Zoom Zoom

Andrew and I recently purchased an electric bike to cruise around Kaifaqu. It is pretty awesome. It's maximum speed is about 40 km/hour and a fully charged batter lasts about 40 km, but there are petals just in case.  The bikes were a steal of a deal, only about $300, they sell for about 2,000 Euros in Europe. Our friends Leon & Kevin purchased the same bike. 

The Chinese don't seem to know what to do about foreigners on electric bikes. We get a lot of stares, especially when Leon has her dad on the back & I have Andrew on the back. Once a woman at the massage parlor we frequent asked if we were driving bikes the day before. She recognized us. Andrew thinks we're a bit famous, I wouldn't go that far, but I do think two blondes on electric bikes is a bit memorable for the Chinese. I think they just think we're crazy to brave driving here.

Kerstin & Travis checking out the bike at the bike shop.

Leon & I ready to cruise.

Di & Andy checking out the bike in the parking garage.

Andrew taking me for a spin on the bike.

Andrew driving while Travis lights the way with two high powered lasers.

Leon securing the bike.

Great Wall Half Marathon

At the end of our trip to Beijing, Andrew and I ran the Great Wall Half Marathon with a group of friends. It was a great experience. The half marathon is 13.1 miles and includes 2,582 steps, unlike the flat course I've previously ran. This was Andrew's first half marathon. He doesn't consider himself a runner. It was our friend Leon's first half marathon as well and late on the evening of my birthday party celebration after a number of alcoholic beverages, Leon bet Andrew that she would beat him. The wager was a flight to Shanghai, which is equivalent to $150.


The weeks leading up to the event, Andrew didn't have anything positive to say about the upcoming run and he was less than pleased when he woke up at 3:30 a.m. the day of the race. I was excited. However, he agrees that it was a really cool experience, especially since he beat Leon in the race. 

The runners & our photographer: Richard, Andrew, me, Kevin, Regina & Leon.
(Kevin was our "official" photographer. He was intending on running, but due to his shoulder injury was unable.
Next year he'll be running with us.)

The view from our hotel room, which faced the Great Wall.

Andrew ready for the race. Notice it's still dark outside. We had to travel about 2.5 hours to the start of the race.

Part of the race course. 

Andrew attaching his race number.

The race course & the crowd.

 Photos of the actual race course, thanks to Richard & Regina (they had their cameras with them while they ran).

Just ran over 2,000 stairs.

Andrew's smiling after the stairs, probably because he knows Leon is behind him.

Crossing the finish line.

Happy to have finished.

Andrew in the home stretch, only 50 feet to go.

The runners & photographer. All happy to have crossed the finish line.

Finished 24/403 overall for females & 3/77 for woman in my age group, 30-34 years old. (Happy I just turned 30.)  

Leon & I enjoying a glass of wine at our hotel after the run.

The following day Leon, Regina & I visited another portion of the wall. It was nice to actually take our time and enjoy the sites.

Xi'an & Beijing

As mentioned in the Bain Family Visit post we traveled to Xi'an and Beijing in May. 


Xi'an is most famous for the Terracotta Army are lifesize statutes from 210 BC. They were discovered in 1974 by a local farmer. There are over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses buried in massive pits. They were built during the first Qin Emperor who had an army of men build them to protect him once he died. Needless to say it was an impressive site.

In Xi'an we biked around the city wall. The wall was built in the 1300s. It is about 12 km in circumference, and is 12 meters in height. The wall was built to protect 12 square km of the city. A highlight of the trip to Xi'an for me.  

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is also a sight we visited. It was built in 652 during the Tang Dynasty.

Deborah rubbing the laughing Buddha for good luck.

While in Beijing we saw the "major" tourist attractions, Summer Palace, Forbidden City & Tian'amen square.


Summer Palace, the summer get-away complex for China's emperors.

Forbidden City, for almost 500 years served as the home for emperors and as a political center for the Chinese government.    

Tian'anmen Square, the largest city square in the world.