Yes, I　know its not 2008 but it might as well be the way the people in Beijing are acting. There is a massive clock with a countdown on it as well as Olympic paraphanalia across the city! Yesterday we went to the Temple of Heaven where they were selling hats, t-shirts and even kites with Olympic logos.

To back up a bit we arrived in Beijing three days ago on an overnight train from Yanshou. Everyone talks about the trains in China but I really think they are an experience unlike any other. To give the short version we had our tickets changed by the manager at our hotel because we ended up staying in Yangshou longer than expected. Which by the way was amazing. We went on a three hour bike ride though the country and up to Moon Hill which is a moutain with a cut ou tthat the moon shines through. Then we took a leisurly ride down the River on a bamboo raft. We sat wtih an umbrella over us and in reclining chairs as the man on the back pushed us along over waterfalls and through the back waters of Yanshou. It was beautiful.. i will pu the pictures up soon!

Anyway, back to the train. So we booked soft sleeper which is four to a room with a door. Well Mr Manager booked up hard sleeper!　We get to our bunk and there are four chinese men sitting there palying cards. Eww it was so crowded and I started to act like an ugly American. I　was like, "Courtney I don't want them on my bed.. get them off." Of course you can only sit on the lower bunk and their beds were all nice and clean. So I asked a man if I could use his phone to call Robert. Strangely this man ended up knowing Mr Manger, aka Robert and chatted wiht him for a few mintues. When Robert got on the phone with me I was half polite and half you lied to us.. jerk! So of course he explains it in some roundabout way and tells us we can upgrade. At this point that is all I really care about. I　am not about to spend a 22 hour train ride wtih this many people. Now some woudl call me snobby but really I　have roughed it.. seriously I have not even written abotu some of the gross stuff. This　I was paying twenty bucks to upgrade.. w hich with a lot of effort and looking in our phrase book we were able to accomplish. We shared a cabin with a couple who met while travelling.. one was English and the other from Holland. They were so sweet and comfortable to be sleeping across from for 22 hours. We went to eh dining cart and met a Chinese couple from San Francisco who translated the dinner menu for us so we could enjoy some yummy fresh fish, weird veggies and of course a big plate of rice. He is starting a golfing school in China and trainig pros from all over. I was impressed! They even bought us dinner and we agreed to buy the beer.. which was about 20 cents for a big bottle! After dinner we climbed into our cozy bunk with down comforters and let the train lull us to sleep. When we woke up we read and before we knew it it was time to get off. Seriously a great experience!!

As for Bejing we have't seen too much yet. We are in our hostel waiting for our laundry to dry. Yesteray we saw the Temple of Heaven which was beautiful although the main part is being worked on so we saw the outer temples were the emperor would come and pray. When he did come to pray the whole city had to stay indoors including forigeners. Even the boats had to stop and sit while he was there.. as not to disturb him! Crazy!　what was even crazier is that when Courtney and I arrived at the entrace there was a couple who handed me their baby and wanted to take a picture with us and the whole family. I really felt very strange but it was fun to hold the baby.. he was soo cute!! Only the babies here don't wear diapers.. they jsut have a flap in the back of their pants so they can wee when they need to. Luckily it wasn't a time when he needed to!

After the temple we headed off to the silk market!! Wow.. if you ever want to practice your bargaining skills.. this is the place! You hae to bargain them down at least by fifty percent or you know you are getting ripped off. The worst part is is that some of them get downright angry and nasty. I was tired of it after two hours.. i can't even imagine how they feel. We bought too much stuff to list here and I not sure how I will carry it around though I suppose shipping it home is an option.

Today we are going to see the Forbidden City and Tinammen Square. We saw a bit of it yesterday and it really is huge and awe inspiring. The picture of Mao is huge and they saying goes that he was 70% good and 30%　bad.. which really.. isn't that all of us. If you talk to most Chinese they dont fault him for his bad side and really think he did a lot of good for the country. I　really want to point out that closing schools for a decade is never a good thing to do but I　feel a little out of place saying that. We have been doing a lot of reading on him so perhaps my feelings will change the more i know.. though from what I　know now I don't think so.

More updates to come, thanks for reading!