Travel Letters

Bangkok to Beijing: "Royal Tailors"

Posted January 3, 2008 by admin
China: Beijing

Royal Tailors
Bangkok, Thailand

January 3, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

 

From Boca Raton , in sunny South Florida , my generous friend and once-upon-a-time mother-in-law, Helga D. sent me this New Year’s message:

"Jan, while you are freezing your ass off in China I will do the same in Antarctica. I am leaving in the middle of January for a cruise on the Explorer II."

Beijing: "Yu Li to Song Na to Xin Ying"

Posted January 5, 2008 by Jan
China: Beijing

Beijing

People's Republic of China

January 5, 2008

Clear and Cold

Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry, sports fans. "Yu Li to Song Na to Xin Ying" is not the double-play combination on the Chinese Baseball Team in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Yu Li (Lily) and Song Na (Jasmine) and Xin Ying (Elsa) are my never-let-me-out-of-their-sight girl-guides in this capital city of 15.2 million.

{C}

Beijing: "Sunday in the Park with Jasmine"

Posted January 6, 2008 by Jan
China: Beijing

Beijing

People's Republic of China

Sunday, January 6, 2008

 

Dear Family and Friends,

In New York City, the exquisite white marble, Neo-Gothic St. Patrick's Cathedral sits on bustling and narrow Fifth Avenue and not in the middle of Central Park. The venerable French Gothic Notre Dame de Paris sits on the Île de la Cité and not in le jardin des Tuileries. But in Beijing where The Son of Heaven prayed for good harvests, the Temple of Heaven sits in the middle of a 267 hectare (660 acre) public park.

Beijing: "I Climbed the Wall with Elsa"

Posted January 7, 2008 by Jan
China: Beijing

Beijing

Bandaling District

China

Monday

January 7, 2008

 

Dear Family and Friends,

Here’s what I thought: “Book a tour. Ride a bus. Buy a ticket. Climb up on to the Wall. Then, take a leisurely stroll along the Wall.” I was correct, except for that last part. Listen . . . .

Jasmine went back to work but she enlisted her former colleague and good friend Elsa to be my guide for the day.

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