on safari

• stop the civil war in Sri Lanka
• chocolate
• some more chocolate
• a Gdium
• even more chocolate
• stop the political mess in Thailand
• stop China from becoming the next superpower
• more Free and Open Source Software
• more honesty
• no Prabhakaran poster in my favorite Sri Lankan restaurant
• decent italian-style espresso in Bangkok
• no racism
• still more chocolate, you never can get enough chocolate
• less traffic in Bangkok
• more books
• more meaning
• more hope
• more life
• less stress
• less crap jobs
• more beach
• more sun
• more diving

I have left Beijing a bit over two weeks ago because I couldn’t get a visa for the Olympics. I am currently staying in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s pleasant capital city with plenty of green trees and blue sky. Green trees and blue skies might sound like pleonasm to you, but believe me after having stayed in Beijing for a while, I can tell the difference.

Last week I went on a field trip with Fabian to Dijik and Lyanga and I have discovered some of the most fantastic sceneries I have ever seen. Unfortunately internet here really sucks, so I only could upload very few pics.

Check out the full flickr foto set here.

Update: Pierre just reminded me via Skype that this method was inspired by him. I forgot to add a link earlier, sorry Pierre. And thank you Pierre for sharing this great learning method :). I really think it works… I already remember the word for ‘keyboard’ without reading the tag.

Took about three minutes to prepare.

I guess every foreigner in Beijing already knows about this, but for a newbie like me, it’s quite hard to find the information online, hence this post:

I went to take the compulsory health check for my Chinese visa in Beijing today. It cost 634.50 Yuan and took about 45 minutes. Tests include a general physical exam, a blood test, an ECG, and a chest X-ray. Don’t forget to bring along you passport, as well as three passport size photos, and try to get there well before 10 a.m. because that’s when the queues tend to become longer. Working hours are from 8.30 to 11.00 a.m. They advise you not to eat breakfast before the tests.

Before May 8, 2008 the physical examination for foreigners can be done at the following address:

Beijing Health and Quaratine Station, Nr. 20 Hepingli Beijie, Chaoyang District, Beijing

After May 8, 2008 it will be done at:

Haidian Clinic of Beijing International Healthcare Center, Nr. 10 De Zhenglu, Haidian District, Beijing, Phone: 82403684

This is not specific for Beijing, but I have never had one before. Got to admit: I really like it. It even made me start drinking hot water just like the Chinese do. Bottles can be ordered by phone from a shop in the same building. Well, could be ordered by phone if my Chinese was good enough. At least for today’s refill I had to go down with the empty bottle to show them what I wanted. They were really friendly (and probably made a bit of fun of me, hence the smiles) and even brought it to the apartment to set it up for me.

A major advantage of living in Beijing is that you can ride a bike in the city. Although I know at least one person who rides a bike in Bangkok, it just seems to unhealthy to me. Traffic and chaotic road conditions are of course the main reason for that, but one should not forget the pollution and the black fumes that can make cycling in Bangkok a nightmare. Now, Beijing has fumes and pollution, but it also has wide roads with separate bike lanes. The traffic in Beijing is slightly less hazardous than because of the complete lack of motorbikes. To make up for it, there are a huge number of electric bikes which make no sound at all and ride at full speed on the bicycle lanes .

If everyone has one, I need one too!

Today’s main task for me was to find and buy a bicycle. Having a version (though not the newest I think) of China’s Lonely Planet, I found the Qianmen Bicycle Shop that is supposed to sell good quality bikes at Qianmen Dajie in central Beijing. Now, Qianmen is really far from where I live, but I didn’t really know where else to go and it seemed easier that way.

I thus walked about 20 minutes to the subway station which is closest to my flat and took the subway to Qianmen. Emerging from the underground in Qianmen, I was quite shocked to discover that Qianmen Dajie has been closed for renovation, including some of the streets in the surrounding Hutongs.

Having come so far, I decided to go to the next bike shop I could find and I continued walking. In China, if there is one successful shop, there is most likely a similar (less successful) one nearby. I finally found one at Zhushikou Xidajie, just a few blocks from Qianmen Dajie. Bike prices ranged from about 120 to 400 Yuan. I decided to get a simple no-frills bike without gears and any other stuff that could easily break. Beijing is flat like a pancake, gears are really not important. I got it for 180 Yuan plus 40 Yuan for a lock and a lady basket.

Having been riding my bike for about four hours around Beijing, I already got a throat pain from the dust and the pollution, but it’s great fun. I really enjoy having it!

See the full flickr photo set of my today’s adventured here.