A Few Unexpected Experiences in Beijing

On 2 Jul 2006 02:52:14 -0700, "The Singing Nun"
wrote:


Dave Frightens Me wrote:
On 2 Jul 2006 01:29:18 -0700, "The Singing Nun"
wrote:

2 observations :-
hole in the ground toilets are more hygenic,
India is the best country on this planet for travel

Obviously you haven't spend 15 hours sharing a tiny wooden bench with
two others in a vastly overcrowded carriage.
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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and how much did you pay for this character building experience ?

2 roids and a slipped disc.
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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SNIP
I should save my talking about FOOD in Beijing in a separate
installment. :-)

Hi

So presumably you didn't try the "stir-fry goat cock and testicles"
which seemed to be on the menu at virtually all the roadside market
food stalls in Beijing when my wife and I were there last year.

We certainly didn't try the above dish - or the "barbecue silkworm
chrysalis" nor the "starfish kebab". We stuck to the "banana fried in
batter" - at least we hope that is what it was!!! 8^)

Regards
KGB

Mister Bartlett wrote:
David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
prestwich tesco 24h offy wrote:

Dave Frightens Me wrote:

On 2 Jul 2006 02:52:14 -0700, "The Singing Nun"
wrote:


Dave Frightens Me wrote:
On 2 Jul 2006 01:29:18 -0700, "The Singing Nun"
wrote:

2 observations :-
hole in the ground toilets are more hygenic,
India is the best country on this planet for travel

Obviously you haven't spend 15 hours sharing a tiny wooden bench with
two others in a vastly overcrowded carriage.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

and how much did you pay for this character building experience ?

2 roids and a slipped disc.

Using the squat toilet in "first class" on the Agra Express was not one
of my fondest memories of my time in India.

I'm assured that Chinese "facilties" are the worst on the planet - tales
of turd-covered rats emerging from the holes in the ground ...

is that a cue for a joke about Runge

Do you ever do ANYTHING but whinge about what a puir widdle VICTIM you
are...???

Stay home, maybe you'd be happier stuffed and mounted over the mantel
piece...

--
Best
Greg


Reef Fish wrote:
Less than 24 hours ago, I was going through the security check
in Beijing on my way back to the US.

The first small surprise was that laptops were not asked to be
removed from the carry-on bag, when going through the X-ray
scanner.

But the much bigger suprise was that I had a can and a bottle
of coke in my bag, and I was asked to OPEN them, so that the
security agent could sniff the content. My wife had a can of
7-up and a bottle of TsingTao beer, and was asked to do the
same! When we didn't have a beer opener, the agent first tried
the Mexican trick of beer-cap opening without success, and then
took it somewhere to have it opened when we had already told
him he could keep the bottle!

From that I gathered they must have a fear for Molokov cocktails
than other weapons the US TSA agents in other countries were
mostly concerned about. I did not stay around to see what they
do with the unopened liquor bottles that could have been bought
from anyone of 7 countries which our cruise ship went through!

Our cruise ended in the port of Xingang a 7 am. Beijing is a
three-hour ride (by bus or taxi) from Xingang, to spend a night
at a hotel, after some sightseeing of either the Great Wall or the
Forbidden City in the afternoon, before staying at the hotel for
the night to start early the next day for the flight home.

My wife and I took the obligatory Great Wall Tour from 1:30 -
6:30 pm, with about half the time on the roundtrip to and from the
hotel to the Tourist Spot.

Never mind the Great Wall! It's not worth seeing! I bought some
post cards and a picture book that had better pictures than I could
ever take myself!

Here was where I encountered my biggest surprise -- that a tourist
site that is supposed to draw in excess of 10,000 tourist everyday
would have the most primitive toilet facilities (they call it the W.C.)

that are just HOLES in the ground and no toilet paper! I could have
made up a story that wouldn't be too far fetched to say that I had
to go and the only paper I had were the 100 Yuen bills (the other
bills are too small to serve as toilet paper), and since each 100 Yuen
is worth about $12.50 USD, some other tourists would probably
pick them up and rinse them out for spending money. :-)

Let's just say I had a few anxious moments when I encountered
that situation, and there was absolutely no warning from the guides
who took buses full of tourists there! I learned afterwards that the
kind of hole in the ground toilets are quite common even in the
major cities like Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing -- except in the
modern restaurants, hotels, and airports.

I should save my talking about FOOD in Beijing in a separate
installment. :-)

-- Reef Fish Bob.

At LAX airport waiting for the red-eye flight to get home by tomorrow.

"tim \(back at home\)" wrote:


"Reef Fish" wrote in message
roups.com...
Less than 24 hours ago, I was going through the security check
in Beijing on my way back to the US.

The first small surprise was that laptops were not asked to be
removed from the carry-on bag, when going through the X-ray
scanner.

I've been through scanners in the US with a laptop, and they didn't
ask me to turn it on but 'sniffed' it - I guess for explosives or
something.

But the much bigger suprise was that I had a can and a bottle
of coke in my bag, and I was asked to OPEN them, so that the
security agent could sniff the content.

Yes this happened to me too.

I was wearing a camelbak (like the bike riders wear) and the agent
made me drink some of the water in there to prove I guess that it
wasn't some noxious chemical. (This was well before 9-11.) I've also
heard of mom's with EBM (expressed breast milk) in bottles who were
forced to drink some of it to prove the same.

Now that you've reminded me I'll have to add it to my blog.

tim

In article .com,
"Reef Fish" wrote:



Here was where I encountered my biggest surprise -- that a tourist
site that is supposed to draw in excess of 10,000 tourist everyday
would have the most primitive toilet facilities (they call it the W.C.)

that are just HOLES in the ground and no toilet paper! I could have
made up a story that wouldn't be too far fetched to say that I had
to go and the only paper I had were the 100 Yuen bills (the other
bills are too small to serve as toilet paper), and since each 100 Yuen
is worth about $12.50 USD, some other tourists would probably
pick them up and rinse them out for spending money. :-)

My favorite Chinese potties are the squat pots, my term. Essentially
these are urinals laid down flat for one to then well squat and ..pinch
a loaf, as it were.
Outside of the tourist areas, these are not terribly unusual. I
even left a meeting with an assistant dean of the Chinese traditional
medicine school in Shanghai, went to the nearest WC and there it was.



Let's just say I had a few anxious moments when I encountered
that situation, and there was absolutely no warning from the guides
who took buses full of tourists there! I learned afterwards that the
kind of hole in the ground toilets are quite common even in the
major cities like Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing -- except in the
modern restaurants, hotels, and airports.

I almost always carry one of those small things of kleenex with me
at all times anymore. A practice I started in China with my first visit,
but I have even found it useful at various places in the US (think CITGO
stations-grin).


I should save my talking about FOOD in Beijing in a separate
installment. :-)

The Hard Rock in Beijing serves great burgers, and generally not a
moment too soon after I have been in-country for a week or so. (g).

In article ,
Rosalie B. wrote:


I've been through scanners in the US with a laptop, and they didn't
ask me to turn it on but 'sniffed' it - I guess for explosives or
something.

Now that you mentino it, I don't think I have ever had to turn it on.
I have seen it done, but it seems to be more of one of the random checks.

In article .com,
"The Singing Nun" wrote:

mrtravel wrote:
The Singing Nun wrote:


2 observations :-
hole in the ground toilets are more hygenic,
India is the best country on this planet for travel


And Elvis Lives.........

in India

hygenically

Dave Frightens Me wrote:
On 2 Jul 2006 01:29:18 -0700, "The Singing Nun"
wrote:

2 observations :-
hole in the ground toilets are more hygenic,
India is the best country on this planet for travel

Obviously you haven't spend 15 hours sharing a tiny wooden bench with
two others in a vastly overcrowded carriage.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

flashback : I spent 22 hours going from Chihuahua to Guadalajara on the
floor in 30c and 100% humidity - dont remember the toilets though !

On Sun, 2 Jul 2006 14:34:46 +0200, (Mister Bartlett)
wrote:

I'm assured that Chinese "facilties" are the worst on the planet - tales
of turd-covered rats emerging from the holes in the ground ...

Well, the Chinese are notably filthy, but I wouldn't say they are the
worst. There's plenty of places in SE Asia that will disturb the most
jaded soul. I won't go into my worst experience, but I will say it
didn't involve a toilet, and left me quite scarred.
--
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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