Although the earthquake hit the country of China Beijing is far away from the epicenter moreover I was in Hong Kong at the time. It was reported that people in Hong Kong could feel the aftershocks but I didn't feel anything.
In short, I'm cool. I thank you all for your kind letters of support and checking to ensure my safety. I (We) are cool.
After a long, hard day of climbing the Great Wall you really don't want to climb back down. Fortunately Chinese people are incredibly smart. They setup an "Inertia Ropeway" which allows you to get down from the Great Wall with the greatest of ease.
I've been attending a small private Chinese language school here in Beijing in an attempt to improve my Mandarin language skills; which are currently at the baby talk level. The school took a trip out to the Simatai section of the great wall. Previously I had only visited badaling so it was nice to see a different part of the wall, especially one that is less touristy.
A few weeks ago Diana and I headed down to Shanghai. We flew down instead of taking the train and we took the "back way" to the Beijing airport. Normal Taxi fare to the airport from city center is around 75RMB, an express bus from Dongzimen is around 30RMB but if you take the public bus it is 4 mao or 4/10 of a RMB (currently the equivalent of 5 US cents). The cheapest route to the airport!
