babuamus

Thanks to all your help my wife and I were able to plan our Beijing trip last minute-ish!

(I know I said I would share my experiences when I get back, and I took my time doing it!)

Without everyone contributing on this forum I know we would've been in rough shape!

We were lucky that we saw very little smog and relatively few tourists - I guess a perk traveling during winter.

(Caution: lots of pics/words)

http://foods-drinks-travels.blogspot...n-beijing.html

Feel free to ask me any questions (in the comments or here) and I will answer them to the best of my abilities!

Shanghainese

From a 1/2 banana (I was born in Shanghai but married a "big nose" after I came to the US) to 2 Canadian bananas:

I haven't read everything yet but I checked all the photos, they are absolutely stunning! They look quite professional to my untrained eye. I will definitely be following your blog.

Thanks very much for sharing!

babuamus

Thank you Shanghainese! That's the highest complement one can receive!

AtlTravelr

Just finished reading your post - loved your photos! I did laugh at the description of your wife and her reaction to the squat toilets. Have to say that I was expecting much worse on our recent trip. Once I figured out the best position (you need to really get down low - no standing up tall and "spraying" all over the place!), I found them to be a pretty convenient and sanitary solution to the public bathroom problem of seats left up, seats that are wet (yuck!), clogged with paper and worse. Not that I didn't welcome the western toilets in our hotel...

Elainee

Special point of view....very interesting. Fabulous photos of Great Wall. Worth braving the cold weather..Thank you!!!

eznmomma

I loved reading your blog as I am going to Beijing in September. I would be interested in hearing why you chose the part of the Great Wall that you did and how you made contact with a private driver and guide.