today we crossed 6 lanes of beijing traffic frogger style and didn't get squished

yes we're in china now! 27 hours of flying and we finally arrived (a little bleary eyed) in Tokyo and then a short 3 hour flight a couple days later to China. but first...to finish off Chile. Our last couple of days were a little tough going. being a foreigner in santiago is like walking around with a bulls eye. We were targeted 3 times (that we know of) for theft and the last time they were successful. Basically a group on the subway that pushed between and separated us and then as the doors opened pushed and shoved until I (kathryn) had to put my arms up for protection. in that instant my wallet was gone. I knew right away, in fact more or less knew while it was happening so could tell kirk. We got off and found Kirk's bag wide open but thankfully nothing gone. A little money, soccer tickets, and cards so fairly easy to fix. But we were definitely ready to get out of that city. Having to be on edge constantly was getting tiring.

Perhaps because of the Santiago chaos but Tokyo seemed like some surreal experience out of a science fiction novel. Spotlessly clean, beautiful, efficient, organized, friendly...all words that come to mind. Best summed up by our subway experience - a crazy mess of lines and stations but really incredibly user friendly with the maps and directions given. Marks on the wall indicate where the doors will open and people line up. Yes that's right...line up for the subway! and when the doors open they move to the side and let people out and then proceed to board.

Our visit in Tokyo was brief at just under 2 days but we'd decided to focus on China as it's much less expensive. We did have a great dinner at a small local restaurant. Thankfully a fellow patron spoke a little english and was able to help us get some chicken and vegetables. They asked why we'd come in this place (it was def off the tourist hub) and thought it hilarious when i told them "because we're hungry and people sitting in here must mean it's good".

Flew in to Beijing the night before the planned demonstration in Tianamen square (all to do with the current china/japan friction) but other than taking a little long at the border control it was pretty painless. The flight - what a treat! Personal screens with choice of movies, games, or music. Cameras on the outside of the plane to see what was going on. And tasty food! Sure beat the previous flight where they'd just kept the lights off and told us to rest for 27 hours.

We've been enjoying Beijing. Less sterile than Tokyo, much safer than Santiago and lots to see. Crossing the road is always interesting. The green walk signal comes on but... bikes, taxis, rickshaws, motorbikes, and cars turning right all seem to have the right of way so it's a 'every person for themself and meet you on the other side policy'.

Standing in Tianamen square on our first day was really awesome. The vastness of it and actually standing in it made the fact we're in China very real. The next day was the forbidden city - those emperors sure knew how to live! And yesterday we hiked the great wall from Jingshanling to Simitai. Steep ups and downs over bits that have been rebuilt as well as pieces that have been left in decay. A great experience and we really enjoyed getting out of the city and doing a hike. Today we made our way to the Summer Palace and then walked around a Hutong - a community where all the houses join together and lead into courtyards and communal space. Many of them are expected to be destroyed before the olympics, unfortunate as apparently 1/4 of the population lives in a Hutong.

Domestic tourism has taken off here so there are many chinese tourists. Foreigners seem to be a bit of a curiousity to them. Perhaps our size? Or we're the only ones wearing sandals? Anyway we've had our photo taken twice by the local tourists!

Tonight is our last night here before we move on to Datong which is a 6 hour train journey on a 'hard seat train'. We just stocked up on chocolate for the journey :)

One note about this blog - we can post but we can't see it or comments. We think it's because of restricted sites (similarily we can access lonely planet site but not the discussion forum). so if you have anything to say please email us :)

until next time...