Friday, August 12, 2011
As I sit in a Pizza Hut in Beijing, I weep for the future of the Chinese children. After a lunch in the outskirts of Beijing that was extraordinarily healthy with crisply cooked vegetables, sticky white rice and green tea, what China's youth is being introduced to (at least in the major metro areas) can do nothing but train their taste buds to want the things that are exactly contrary to good health and proper nutrition.
Having said that ... I never thought I'd see escargot on a Pizza Hut menu, or any number of other things. I ate a large garden vegetable pizza (green peppers, mushrooms, corn and pineapple), drank a red bean smoothie, a 7-Up, and then topped it all off with a slice of Green Tea ice cream cake (kind of like an Asian tiramisu). Yummo!
I chowed like a hound because it was my first chance to eat some serious calories in about three days and I tried to take advantage of it. My tour tomorrow ends late in the day, depending on Beijing traffic, so want to be sure I have Carbo-loaded. Today I found the challenge of a lifetime (for someone else, not me) as I visited The Great Wall. Words can't express how awesome it is. You have to see it and walk on it to believe it. It is a wonder of the ancient and modern world. It stretches about 6,000 miles and took over 1000 years to build. Designed to keep out the Mongol hordes (and other minorities) from the Han people, it is now serviced by a ski lift going up and a toboggan ride going down (think a luge on wheels going down a stainless steel track - really fun and not necessarily something you can do in a country with stricter safety laws).
I hiked (and it was a serious, sweat-inducing-wring-your-shirt-out-at-the-end climb) from tower 6 through tower 14 and saw beautiful lands. If I were to go back, I would have taken the lift to tower 16, walked over to tower 20 (which seemed to be the highest nearby) and then walked back to tower 6. However, this structure is awesome. I have a friend who hiked the Appalachian Trail in the US, which is something like 2,172 miles ... I have a new challenge for him. Our guide told us that Olivia Newton John hiked 220 kilometers of The Great Wall as a Climb for Cancer fundraiser in the mid-2000s. She hiked about 10 k a day and I thought, before going onto the wall, that it was not a bad achievement for someone a little older than me, but probably no big deal for someone younger. Holy Misunderestimation, Batman. I'd be lucky to make 10k the first day and I'd sure not make it hte second. If you ever have the chance to go to it, make the time - it is worth it. Also, go to the Mitianyu section and not the Badaling section (which is closer to Beijing). The Badaling section is the one that is most crowded and the pictures you take will not be as good. It's worth it to go about 50 miles out of town (although still in the pollution!) and enjoy a more relaxing time.
Tomorrow four more treats are lined up: Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace
As I sit in a Pizza Hut in Beijing, I weep for the future of the Chinese children. After a lunch in the outskirts of Beijing that was extraordinarily healthy with crisply cooked vegetables, sticky white rice and green tea, what China's youth is being introduced to (at least in the major metro areas) can do nothing but train their taste buds to want the things that are exactly contrary to good health and proper nutrition.
Having said that ... I never thought I'd see escargot on a Pizza Hut menu, or any number of other things. I ate a large garden vegetable pizza (green peppers, mushrooms, corn and pineapple), drank a red bean smoothie, a 7-Up, and then topped it all off with a slice of Green Tea ice cream cake (kind of like an Asian tiramisu). Yummo!
I chowed like a hound because it was my first chance to eat some serious calories in about three days and I tried to take advantage of it. My tour tomorrow ends late in the day, depending on Beijing traffic, so want to be sure I have Carbo-loaded. Today I found the challenge of a lifetime (for someone else, not me) as I visited The Great Wall. Words can't express how awesome it is. You have to see it and walk on it to believe it. It is a wonder of the ancient and modern world. It stretches about 6,000 miles and took over 1000 years to build. Designed to keep out the Mongol hordes (and other minorities) from the Han people, it is now serviced by a ski lift going up and a toboggan ride going down (think a luge on wheels going down a stainless steel track - really fun and not necessarily something you can do in a country with stricter safety laws).
I hiked (and it was a serious, sweat-inducing-wring-your-shirt-out-at-the-end climb) from tower 6 through tower 14 and saw beautiful lands. If I were to go back, I would have taken the lift to tower 16, walked over to tower 20 (which seemed to be the highest nearby) and then walked back to tower 6. However, this structure is awesome. I have a friend who hiked the Appalachian Trail in the US, which is something like 2,172 miles ... I have a new challenge for him. Our guide told us that Olivia Newton John hiked 220 kilometers of The Great Wall as a Climb for Cancer fundraiser in the mid-2000s. She hiked about 10 k a day and I thought, before going onto the wall, that it was not a bad achievement for someone a little older than me, but probably no big deal for someone younger. Holy Misunderestimation, Batman. I'd be lucky to make 10k the first day and I'd sure not make it hte second. If you ever have the chance to go to it, make the time - it is worth it. Also, go to the Mitianyu section and not the Badaling section (which is closer to Beijing). The Badaling section is the one that is most crowded and the pictures you take will not be as good. It's worth it to go about 50 miles out of town (although still in the pollution!) and enjoy a more relaxing time.
Tomorrow four more treats are lined up: Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace
