Check out latest China trip photos.

[PorscheGAL]

Thanks for the pictures.

I know I'm such a girl for this, but I love the wedding picture. What a lovely spot for that memory.

My son spent a summer studying in HK and Beijing in 2019. I think he's itching a little to go back.

I am definitely sharing your pics with him.

[berettafan]

Man that shot of all the cameras....that's some heavy stuff to digest.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Man that shot of all the cameras....that's some heavy stuff to digest.

Intentionally conspicuous too. Clear message that “we are watching you”.

[Rick Lee]

WRT the surveillance state, you guys have probably heard about the Great Firewall of China. Lots of sites are blocked. Google, Facebook, Youtube and countless others, all blocked. For me, if I was on wifi, all the blocked sites were, well, blocked. But on my Verizon int'l. plan I could reach anything. Chinese have workarounds for everything and I wasn't at all shy about browsing the blocked sites on my phone in public. No one bothers foreigners there. I think the whole country is like the American mafia culture - everyone knows the rules. Doesn't matter if they're right or wrong. Everyone knows how far they can go. Step out of line and you get your skull thumped. In many ways China is far, far freer than the US. It is way more capitalist, prostitution is legal, you can drink and smoke anywhere, if you don't want to pay for booze in the restaurant, they don't care if you go to the bodega nextdoor and buy some beers and drink them in the restaurant. You really can do whatever you want ... as long as you don't challenge the gov't. or try anything remotely approaching organizing a flash mob or protest.

[Missed Approach]

Hi Rick- That's fantastic you got a Driving Permit, and it looks like they listed only your first name- 理查德! I started going to China for work in '05. Before my first trip, I found an instructor (老师) in Minneapolis to work on speaking, reading & writing. I've always struggled with writing, but his lessons in reading & speaking have been a huge help. There's nothing better than the myriad of cuisines. It's awesome you've spent time in Xi'an (everybody loves biang biang 面) Regardless, thanks for the great photos! As an aside, I'll never forget the first time I sat in a BYD in 2016 (in Guangzhou). My initial thought was, this is a game-changer.

[Rick Lee]

Mrs. Lee told me tonight that the police have informants looking for people drinking in restaurants and then driving. We went to a place in Dali and their beer selection was very weak. Their main beer I knew was no good. A few others I saw on a table next to ours and so Mrs. Lee asked the three ladies there about their beers. They were from Singapore (total MILFs, BTW). One of them recommended a beer, I ordered it, it came in a 1l can, I thought it sucked and so Mrs. Lee's mom drank it with me. Her father was driving, but he didn't have anything to drink at all. When we went to the car, there were some guys on mopeds watching us. I thought nothing of it at the time, but Mrs. Lee insists they were police or informants, looking to see if her father or I got in the driver's seat. Dunno how much of that I believe, but I only really drove during the day for the long stretches, not the city stuff.

[p911dad]

We toured China back in 2017 for 3 weeks, saw a lot, had a great trip. One thing that sticks out is both of our guides warned us about internet use, email, texts, etc. Basically stay off until clear of the border.

[Cajundaddy]

Originally Posted by javadog

Fresher, no.

Also, not dissected on a dirty alley pavement. I'm bothered both by the lack of hygiene and the depravity of it.

I grew up in Singapore at a time when the food hawkers worked on carts out in the street, so it's not completely unfamiliar to me. That's just too far.

During our 3 week China tour in 2007 we stayed 2 nights in Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Warriors exhibit. We loved exploring the ancient palace and the Warriors exhibit but it was our least favorite hotel of the trip. Right across the street was an open air wet market where animals of every kind were often killed and dressed on the spot, then the meat was sold or sometimes grilled for sale right next to a hanging carcass. If you hunt deer or elk the process should be very familiar but my wife was pretty horrified by the stark cultural differences.

We only sampled street food with the suggestion of our local guides and were never disappointed. It is the only international travel where my wife lost weight on the trip.

[Rick Lee]

I eat with reckless abandon in China and still always lose weight there. Never ever eat western food there. One day my iPhone health app counted 19,000 steps. And a huge percentage of that was stairs (uphill both ways, of course).