i'm off to China tomorrow morning. I will check in the site as I can over the next month. Should be a great trip as this time I'm mioxing business with Pleasure (note capital P in Pleasure :) ) .

Mike - have a great time and don't cause any International Incidents :wall: :btu:

have fun! Be Safe! Take your Tamiflu!!!

Where exactly in China are you headed to? I lived over there for 4.5 yrs, its some kind of a nutty place...

Sianara!

Have a safe trip and come back in one piece

don't tell all those chinese ALL of our secrets:chatter

More like hold on to your cannoli...more kind of craziness going on there than one can express in a public manner

It was an adventurous week. The Bank of China was closed for a whole week. They are the only bank that will take travelers checks. What a pain in the butt. At one point I was worried I didn't have enough Chinese money to take a cab to the bank when it did open! :)

Anyway , they opened yesterday and I'm all set. tomorrow I leave shanghai and go to Beijing.

Every now and then you see someone fishing a mudhole here with a pole about 20 feet long.

please try and not eat any small doggies.....

i saw a film of them: having 20 small dogs in a cage that we'd consider small for just one.
Like too many chickens they couldnt even turn around
and were biting each other and fighting...ahhhh -> it was nasty...

watch your top knot....

Mike say hello to my next pickup truck at the Ford plant, my next pair of Levi's, my next ah whatever, have a great time.

yeesh Mike. figured the least your employer could do was let you fish the month of May at home. :wall:

have fun. remember, the smaller dogs are tastier than the big old ones which are tough and stringy. chows are better eating than german shepherds.

may you have many happy endings in your hedonic pursuits. i have the name of a place where you can watch gals crack an egg into a whiskey tumbler without using their hands. :devil2:

This trip is part business , part pleasure.I'm not missing the fish!! Clammer would understand . :)

who is in the picture? :huh:

Lets just say that for the last seven months she's been a gooood friend , and leave it at that! :)

Have a GREAT time. Dont do anything I wouldnt do. :rotf2:

please try and not eat any small doggies.....

i saw a film of them: having 20 small dogs in a cage that we'd consider small for just one.
Like too many chickens they couldnt even turn around
and were biting each other and fighting...ahhhh -> it was nasty...

watch your top knot....

Typical....

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/Zac_S/china166.jpg


my friend Tom used to have a term he always used "Far East Fox." I always thought that had a great ring


http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/Zac_S/china045.jpg

Over there anyone and everyone automatically becomes a big fish in a small pond.

sounds like a great trip Saltheart....keep us informed..and have a blast

yesterday I did tiananmam . Its big. Half mile by 1/4 mile. I bet i went up and down and around for about 6 miles total. Its all on stone floors too. My legs were on fire when I got back to the hotel. I think that is how it will be every day as all of the tours rely on you walking around following the guide with the little flag. Oh well.The pain will be forgotten quickly but the sites will remain with me forever. Not a bad trade.
I'm starting to look into the great Wall options. I think I'm going to gamble a little and go to the steepest section rather than the closest , big tourist section. The steeper section could obviously kill my legs but it has a cable car that brings you to the top. The problem is its all down hill from there and you must walk back up whatever you walk down to get back to the cable car to ride down. They say there is also a little chute ride down that you go down on a little car with a joystick break. I did this in Utah about ten yeras ago. Its a blast but I'm not sure that I'm fit for that anymore. :) The hotel i am in is great. i have traveled on 4 continents and this is in the top 5 I have ever stayed at. Of the best I've seen , this is the cheapest at $85 per night. It reminds me of the Intercontinetal coex in soule Korea or the Ritz Carlton in Shanghai but for 1/3 to 1/4 th the price. Unfortunate I'm gaining back the pound a day I lost in shanghai as this place has a huge breakfast buffet included with the room. I mean one chef doing omelets , one doing waffles , one making some kind of made to order noodles. theres about 25 chafing dishes and another 6 or seven tables of breads , pastries , chinese yuck looking stuff , etc. There are so many waiters and waitresses that today I actually felt they were getting in the way.

Anyway , life is good right now for this old fisherman.

Beijing is a nutty town, sounds like you are having a great time. Check out Shi Cha Hai at night, good scene, nice places to drink by the lake, some good hakka food to be found as well!

go for daily massages...over there you can live like a king on a tight budget!!!