China - we've been here for about 6 days and I have to say I'm quite surprised by the country. It's, for sure, different then life in the West. A few things have stuck out to me during my time here. [ pics ] The first thing I noticed was that the people and the country are quite a bit more culturally advanced then I expected. People take care of themselves and are quite stylish. They are much more fashionable then at home in Amsterdam - most of the women are in high heels and dresses and really have much more beauty then I ever noticed before. Nensi is not impressed with the men, especially the coughing up and launching of the huge globs of phlegm.

No one speaks English and most of the "local" restaurants only have menus in Chinese. We've been typical tourists, pointing to the characters of what we want in our guidebook. The limits of our conversations are ni hao (hello), xiexie (thanks), an occasional ziajian (good-bye) and tsingtao (the best selling beer here). We get where we want to go, we get fed and all get a good laugh in the process. The people are friendly, reserved and very interested and more than willing to help us. Sometimes they don't realize you don't speak Chinese. They'll continue to talk to you in Chinese even though you haven't a clue what they're saying. We've found that if you talk back to them in English, they eventually get the point.

The prices are varied. Taxis are super cheap. A 20-30 minute ride will cost you 75元 or about 7€ here, which will cost you 50-60€ in Amsterdam. If that's too much you can always get around in Beijing by subway. A ticket to anywhere in the city will cost you 2元 (.20€). The meals are also cheap, with a full meal with beer and wine for 2 costing you about 250元 or about 20€. We found shopping to be mixed, but definitely cheaper than Amsterdam. Nensi bought a nice pair of sandals for about 320元 (30€) and I bought a couple of nice C-Pix - 衫国演义 t-shirts for 68元 (6€) a piece. Of course, the more touristy you get the more the price goes up. Drinks in a hot spot in Beihai Park (北海公园) are par with Amsterdam food and drink prices. We've made a few stops in the super markets. They are bigger and have more product then I am used to in Europe.

You can tell that this country is on its way up and will be a popular travel location. We're on our way to the coastal city of Qingdao. Looking forward to more experiences.