Flying Home...

Julia and I are heading home tomorrow (Oct. 28th 2009).  We've had a great time here in China but are ready for our beds and a more varied diet!  

- Scott

Beijing and the Forbidden City

With Julia's fevers gone we decided to take it slow and just explore the Forbidden City, which is located about a 25 minute walk from our hotel.  The crowds outside the city were thick... but the relatively steep entrance prices thinned the crowds out.  The forbidden city is huge... but you're only allowed to explore certain parts of it.  

After we made our way through the city, we wondered through the old alley ways via pettycart and then made our way up to the top of the garden hill overlooking the forbidden city.  As Beijing is flat, the ancient emperors had the hill built from the excavations during the construction of the forbidden cities moat.  Being about 40 meters hill and very wide, the hill is composed of a lot of dirt!  We then made our way to the National Center for Performing Arts on the way back to the Hotel.  The reflections off the water made for some pretty photos.

- Scott

Julia and the case of the H1N1

22 October, 2009

Beijing

We arrived in Beijing with Julia feeling feverish and achy... first things first, we stopped by the SOS Hospital (which by the way has a very friendly and English speaking staff) where they immediately checked us in and brought us to a waiting room.  They told us we'd have to wait 5 minutes before the Doctor could see us and then apologized profusely about the wait.  Hey, if I ever got this kind of service at a US hospital, I would be super happy... no apologies needed.  They also outfitted us both with face masks so that we couldn't spread our viruses to the staff and other patients.  I hate masks so I didn't wear mine... plus, I didn't had any symptoms (Julia hasn't been feeling well for about 3 days before we got to the hospital... but being on a mountain it was difficult to get to a hospital). 

The Doctor (he sounded german) came in with gloves and a mask on.  He asked the general questions and then asked if Julia wanted to take the test for a type A influenza (H1N1 and H3N2).  Julia said yes and seconds later without warning he stuck a swab up Julia's nose... Julia said it was uncomfortable but she supposed she was glad she didn't know it was coming.  The doctor said it would take 45 mins before we had any results... about 45 mins later the Doctor came back... this time without gloves and a mask on.  He informed us that Julia had tested positive for H1N1.  I think the funny part was that after he learned that Julia had swine flu he was all relaxed and not wearing any mask and shaking our hands gloveless. 

Anyways, he said that Julia would be okay and just needed rest and some medication.  The interested part for me was despite the fact that China is very cheap a visit to the doctors apparently is not.  It cost us around $300 for medicine and the Doctors visit... maybe you pay a premium for english speaking doctors.

The pictures are of Julia in the Doctors waiting room right before she discovered she tested positive for H1N1...

Map of Emeishan


We listed tons of place names during our hike up Emeishan... We
thought we'd pop up a map to help you grasp our trails up the
mountain!
One map is unedited while the other map includes our route, times to
hike, and the monasteries we slept at.
Scott
Note: We stayed at the JinDing Hotel