Dear friends,
In China, you can find almost any delicacy on a stick. Squid on a stick, Pork on a stick, beetle on a stick, scorpion on a stick--you name it, they've got it.

The above pictures were taken from the Temple Festival in Pan Jia. The Temple Festivals are very popular amongst the locals for Chinese New Year. There were so many people at these festivals! Take a look.

My favorite "thing" on a stick is this crabapple/fruit thing:

Mmmmm, I'll miss those when I go back to the United States and Taiwan...

You can find more pictures here: China Photo Set 5!

Dear friends,
On the fourth or fifth day I was in China, I visited the silk market. I've never seen anything like it! Imagine all those street vendors selling clothes, jade, hewelry, accessories, and art you see in New York City and Taiwan. Put hundreds of them inside a building and that will give you a rough idea of Beijing's silk market. There are rows and rows of vendors calling out to you...

Vendor (who mostly talks to my friend, who is white, disinterested, and does not speak any Chinese): "Lady, lady. Buy some clothes? Pretty shirt. Come see. Try on. Come look. You name price."
I stop to actually look at a shirt that I like.
Vendor: You speak Chinese? Yes? Good. (proceeds to speak in Mandarin) Shirt is good quality. This shirt is RMB$380. Real silk!
Me: That's way too expensive. How about I give you RMB$50.

(Yeah, I cut the price a 100 fold...Vendors really like to rip you off)

Vendor: WAH?! You think I can make money off of that? No way.
Me: Okay. (I start to walk away)
Vendor: Ok, ok, lady. I give you $100, best bargain.
Me: That's really too expensive. $50 is my highest offer.
Vendor: Ok, ok. I give you $80.
I really start to walk away, although I really like the shirt...
Vendor: FINE! I give you $50. (Vendor stuffs the silk shirt into a bag, obviously exasperated and tired of my stubbornness).

That was probably the best bargaining experience I had, though. I may have still been ripped off, but at least I got the best bargain a foreigner could receive.

Bargaining takes a lot of energy and time. If you're ready to argue and spend 10-15 minutes talking about the price, the silk market is for you! I had a lot of fun. I didn't take any pictures, though, because that would make me look even more like a tourist.

Dear friends,
On the third day I was in Beijing, the weather was still cold, but my friends and I were still able to go out and see the Olympic Bird's Nest and Water Cube. You can't access the Olympic Arena with a taxi; you can only access the area with the metro or subway. When you get to the arena, you can walk to both the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. It's very beautiful and there's even little lights along the path that match the Bird's Nest design. See picture below:

Little bird's nest lights that dot the path to the Olympic Bird's Nest

We didn't go inside because you had to pay and I think seeing the outside was sufficient.

You can find more pictures here: China Photo Set 2!

Dear friends,
On my second day in Beijing, my friends and I went to the Forbidden City. It was so incredibly cold! At first I thought it was me, who just came from Taiwan where the weather is about 20 degrees Celsius, but when I checked the news, it was the coldest time of the year in Beijing; the temperature was -7 degrees Celsius and the windchill was -17 degrees Celsius (All below 20 degrees Fahrenheit)! Can you believe it?!

Two other Fulbrighters and I (Billy & Kate) were so cold, we had to find indoor museums or gift shops in the Forbidden City to warm up. We felt rather ridiculous, but everyone was doing that. Because it was so cold, there were not that many people at the Forbidden City. You'll see in this photo album, China Photo Set 1, that there's virtually nobody at this tourist attraction.

See more pictures here!

Dear friends,
I'm in Beijing right now trying to upload photos of some of the recent activities I've done like go to the Forbidden City, but the Chinese government has placed certain restrictions on uploads. They will not let me upload any pictures onto my website or onto Picasa, Google's Photo Organizer. Very frustrating indeed because now you will only get to read my stories with no pictures! Censorship in China , especially on the Internet, makes communication very difficult. Although I am not a journalist, I am a person who likes to keep my family and friends updated so I can still understand the frustration of an indefinite interruption in the flow of information.

Dear friends,
I am gearing up for my trip to Beijing for Chinese New Year break. I imagine the weather in Beijing is going to be very very cold. Check back later for a more extensive blog post... I'm very busy right now wrapping things up in Taiwan.