So, this afternoon I was standing in my host’s 4th floor office, checking out a map of China, when I felt the building sway. Or did it? I asked the others in the office – no one else felt anything. I felt fine, so it really didn’t make sense that it could be a dizzy spell.
The “building is swaying” sensation continued off and on over the next few minutes.
Shortly after, the text messages began to come in.
Apparently, when you come from a earthquake prone zone, you don’t notice the small tremors, like those generated over a distance. I’m not from an earthquake prone zone. (The epicenter of the quake was about 1000 miles from here.)
We left shortly afterwards for Silk Street Market, a multi-story bazaar dealing everything from leather goods to silk scarves, jewelry, nicknacks, shoes, silk rugs. The sales girls were, too say the least, “enthusiastic” about making sales.
“Lady, you want a purse? Lady, you want a t-shirt? Specur price for you.”
“No thank you, I want car.”
“Car?”
“Audi”
“Oh.”
“Lady, I can get you car!”
“Lady, you want a camera?”
“No, thanks, I have a camera. See? Here – I take your picture.”
“No, no picture.”
“Thanks! See – I took your picture.”
I’m not sure they were as amused as I was. I left the more serious job of haggling to my Chinese “business manager”.
I’ve lots of photos, including the weird ass CCTV building currently under construction. Those will have to wait until I’m home though, as I’ve no way to crop and upload them on this laptop.
At any rate, to update everyone on my Beijing epicurean adventure: Saturday we dined on KFC, last night – pizza. We stopped for cheesecake this afternoon while out shopping, so I skipped supper.
Heh.
Nobody does world travel like a redneck.
Try a local resteraunt in small town Oman. I would skip the trip to the powder room though.
On business in the country. Just back to Muscat today after an eight hour drive across the desert.
Hope you are having a better time than me.
I was staying with some friends in Lima on about the fifteenth floor of their apartment when it started swaying back and forth. This was about one year after the 1970 Peru earthquake that killed about 75,000. All conversation stopped.
So we can safely say that China has embraced the individualist laissez Fair capitalist ethic…too bade we haven’t you can’t compete against that type of productivity with soggy socialist cupidity economics.
Eating at pizza hut in the hub of Chinese cuisine??? I dunno ’bout you lady 😉
No Kate, you are NOT a redneck ! (Ya, I know – the default interpretation is sarcasm) It’s just that WK is always cruising for “evidence” – especially ‘out of context’ evidence.
IMO, what Kate stands for is VERY evident; ‘Everyone should be held accountable for their actions’. Not hard to argue with that, as nothing destroys the social fabric like Moral Hazard does.
Ask if anyone there knows Andrew Go ? Heh! A very, very good friend from U of M days – ten times smarter than I.
Like Kate, I have spent years figuring out what it is I like to eat. Why should we let geography mess with us?
Last count, the Navy has drug my butt to around 20 different countrys. I finally go native with the local cooking in Malta and let the chips fall where they may. What do they bring out for the “lunch” on our island tour? Pasta in a rich red sauce and the most insanely tender steak I have ever eaten.
Bless those Maltese!!
PS, if you ever get there and have Rambo (his real name!) as your tour guide, be sure to bring along one of those boxing mouth guards. Nothing like doing 70 or 80 kmh offroad on a path about 15cm wider than the jeep. Good times!
Beijing’s architecture is catching up to it’s other mainland competitor, Shanghai. Modern Chinese buildings are redefining what can be done with steel and glass. There’s a huge building in Beijing in the shape of a sail covered with external metal louvers that automatically control sunlight, thus reducing heating and cooling loads depending on the time of year.
On the flip side – inside the hotel I stayed at the floor inexplicably would rise and fall a few inches between the elevator and the room – possibly due to mis-alignments caused by rapid construction. But if the building stands and the elevator works, what’s a few inches between friends?
It will be interesting to see how all these ultra modern buildings hold up after 10 to 15 years.
I tried KFC in Beijing too. There’s pigeons with more meat than what they sold.
Were you thinking of Patrick Swayze at the time?
Careful Kate!! You’re on shacky ground!! The last redneck that shook the ground was sent home in a rusty grain tanker!!
Careful what you post Kate ….. SDA will be blocked in China
Personally, I wouldn’t go to China until after the collapse of the Communist Party there.
Then again, as I wouldn’t even go to the infamously inhospitable-to-Canadians Mexico, no surprise I’d go to someplace even more dangerous…
Oops… typo… make that “not go to someplace even more dangerous”.
Does anyone see more than a hint of irony that your host is enjoying the fruits of a (whisper) communist country?
Seems the quake you felt was a serious one. News just coming in that said 7.8 magnitude and many killed.
Have a great time Kate. Do they have a Popeye’s over there as well ? A 3-piece spicy w/redbeans and rice sounds pretty good right now.
Hahaha, and you might be a redneck if you eat KFC in China. All you need now is some Boudain and Crawfish.
,
Kate, come home quick, I just stole the money for your lawyers and CHRC is coming for their bribe tomorrow!
CHONGQING, China, 930 miles from Beijing.
http://tinyurl.com/55ubba
Trust you are keeping safe, Kate
I ate at KFC in China too, but that was because I thought the ever-present, iconic image of the goateed gentleman must have been Chairman Mao. Imagine my shock and dismay when I finally realized I was supporting the imperialist running dog Americans — boy, did I have greasy secret recipe on my face!
I suppose once your in that building you have to … tesseract out! ? ? …………..
Kate, did you have fries with your KFC to balance out the grease with the starch?
Are you sure that was chicken in your KFC? How are the noodles and rice over there?
Looks like Ellsworth Toohey had a hand in the CCTV building design.
re: Earthquake
Global Warming strikes again.
Any minute now …
Gerry Hawke:”…your host is enjoying the fruits of a (whisper) communist country?”
China’s past and present treasures are the product of incalculable amounts of imagination, will power and sacrifice of a strong and proud people. China’s history of accomplishment is as long as civilization. To measure China and all it offers only by it’s current relatively short lived administrative system is grossly ignorant of thousands of years of history.
China’s meaningful progress, including during modern times, has been achieved in the exact same way as with every other place in the world: by individuals pulling in the same direction. For example the Great Wall has been referred to as the Wall of Tears and it has been said that for every step taken on the wall, one life had been given. China’s government may call itself communist but there are huge numbers of people that are independent and industrious capitalists. That’s the secret weapon for their success.
Gerry, I suggest you open your eyes a little more before trying to sound smart.
martin
lighten up!!!!!!
I suppose the enviromentalists wackos lead by HOT AIR AL will blame these earth quakes on GLOBAL WARMING knowing they will say anything to prove their stupid
Shake and bake.
Great to hear from you Kate.
Pat
GYM, I was only as serious as the commenter’s insinuation which I responded to. My understanding of China was probably not far from Gerry’s (i.e. communist fruits) until I went there and saw for myself. My eyes were opened to a great people who cannot be contained inside a red box.
Ever wonder why Chinese dramas end in tragedy?
Hey here in NORTHERN CALIFORNIA where i live we just had a quake about 5.2 on the rickter scale and we have MT SHASTA and now its CHINA whats this whats going on will we go up like KRYPTON?