Well, it has been about one month since I left Hong Kong, and the adventures have continued.  I arrived safely in Beijing to encounter unbearable heat, dust-saturated air, and rain.  With the help of my friend, Emily, who I met on the Yangtze River cruise, I found a US$13/night apartment down the street from the Xijiao Hotel and the Beijing Language and Culture University (Yu Yuen Xue Yuan).    The street of my apartment was filled with little "hole-in-the-wall" Chinese restaurants, which I frequented over the next two weeks.  I became partial to a huge plate of freshly-made jiaozi (dumplings) for less than a dollar.  There was also a local Xijiang (a western Chinese province) restaurant that served a meat and noodle dish that was seasoned with a special seasoning direct from the province that was spicy and savory.  Anyway, I enrolled in a one-on-one Mandarin class, bought a book, hired an additional tutor, and began my intensive study of the Mandarin language.  I met a few students from around the world that were enrolled at BLCU for summer courses, and we soon began checking out the local eateries and social haunts. Unfortunately, I soon got restless being stuck in the miserable weather of Beijing and decided that I needed a change of scenery.  I finished out the current week of Mandarin lessons and informed the school that it would be my last (I was paying week-to-week).  I packed my bags, bought a "soft-sleeper" train ticket to Chengdu (the "window" to Tibet0, and began my journey to Lhasa.

I entered my cabin on the train on a Sunday night to find the other three passengers were a family of three from Syracuse, NY.  The parents had emigrated to the United States about ten years ago and were now returning to their hometowns outside of Chengdu (in the Sichuan province) for the first time since they left ten years earlier.  Their 13-year-old daughter, Tracy, was a delightful girl and shared my love of fine music, like classical orchestra and the Backstreet Boys.  After a 38-hour train ride, we arrived in Chengdu to find more rain.  I decided to head to Sam's Backpacker Hostel with a MIT student  I met on the train.  We checked in, and I enquired about a "tour" to Lhasa.  The lovely government of the PRC makes it very difficult to get to Tibet and thus, individual travelers must be in a tour group.  Thus, numerous travel agencies in Chengdu can arrange "tours" of individual travelers that break up as soon as the travelers arrive in Lhasa.  In any case, the one-way airline ticket, three days lodging in a dorm in Lhasa, and a two-day tour in Lhasa was about $350.  All travel agencies charged the same amount, since there was clearly a government monopoly.  Please bring on the WTO!  So, I was ready to book the trip when I soon discovered that my ATM card wasn't working at any ATM in Chengdu.  I spent the next day at the main Bank of China trying to figure out why with very little success.  I did receive some help from two local guys that I had met in the morning at another bank (where they were working).  They took me to the main Bank of China, translated for me once inside, and even bought me lunch for some reason.  Then, they just said they needed to go back to work and left.  Just another day in China, I suppose.  In any case, my ATM simply wouldn't work, and of course, you have to pay for all airline tickets in China (or at least in Chengdu) in cash&emdash;no credit cards are accepted!  So, I changed my remaining U.S. dollars and was able to get into Lhasa.  I was told at the main Bank of China that my ATM card should be able to work once in Lhasa.  So, I finally booked the tour for that Thursday.  On Tuesday night, I dined with two Israelis, the MIT student, and a father and son from California (whose daugther-sister goes to Penn and does costumes for Mask & Wig).  We went for Sichuan's famous style of eating, hotpot.  Basically, they put a large vat of spicy, boiling oil on the table, and you dip your raw meats and vegetables in the oil until they are cooked.  Well, the spicy oil was like fire going down my throat.  Quite a fun evening.  The next day, I jumped on a tour to the Panda Breeding Research Center of Chengdu to see some panda breeding up close.  Although I didn't see any breeding taking place, I did see a few pandas lazily lounging around their forest-like conditions, chowing down on bamboo.  They love bamboo as much as I do! The word just rolls off your tongue, doesn't it?  BambooŠbambooŠbambooŠ

On Thurday morning, I got up at 5:00am to head to the Chengdu airport.   I flew with three other travelers (including two sisters from Houston who I hung out with a bit) to Lhasa, the city with the highest altitude in the world.  As we disembarked, we were awestruck at the sheer majestic beauty of the surrounding snow-capped mountains.  The sun shone bright through clear, blue skies.  We were met by our tour guide at the baggage claim area and were soon on an 90-minute busride toward the actual city of Lhasa.   I had heard a great deal about the altitude sickness that was supposed to set in upon arrival, and as the bus moved along, the waves of headache, weak legs, and difficulty breathing slowly crept inside me.  It actually wasn't too bad and was combated with a full day of rest at the Snowlands Hotel. Lhasa is a complex place.  It is filled with historical relics and temples from its long, Buddhist history, thousands of craftspeople and shopowners from around Tibet trying to sell their antique and fake Tibetan, Nepalese, and Chinese "chochkies," and is brimming with new PRC buildings filled with oppressive soldiers.  It is a fascinating, gorgeous, and very sad place. The people seem happy, or at least content, and they are full of smiles for foreigners.  Yet, the Chinese government bans even the mention of the Dalai Lama, and the Tibetan people are forced to whisper and hide their faith.  This is wrong.  Now, I don't believe that the system of government that was in place prior to the PRC takeover was proper either.   Unlike popular notions, it was not a democracy in Tibet with the Dalai Lama at the helm, but rather a more medieval society of sorts.  But, the current system, although building a more modern society, is not proper either. Hopefully, as the PRC enters the WTO and foreigners and foreign capital flows into the society, the ills that plague the nation will be eventually remediedŠ

Anyway, I slowly acclimated to the altitude and began my touring the next day.   In the morning, we entered the famous Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lama.  It is a gigantic structure, set in the side of a mountain.  Although not necessarily kept up as well as it should be, many of the original relics and scrolls have been maintained.  Although pictures are not allowed unless a large fee is paid to the PRC government, my digital camera provided the perfect way around this rule.  Point, click, doneŠwith no sound or flash.  Thus, the tour of the Potala will be provided on my website in late August.  As I left the Potala with my group, my eyes flashed upon a young guy standing along the row of buses at the base of the mountain.  As I got closer, I realized my initial thoughts were correctŠit was my fraternity brother and recent Tufts graduate, Josh Margolin.  He just recently graduated and decided to take a month-long bus tour through western China.  An unbelievably small world!  Another example that things are meant to beŠ

We ended up hanging out the next few nights, while during the days I toured the Sera Monastery, where the monks have a daily debating ritual that reminded me of a fraternity pledge event. They sit in groups and one monk stands and fires question, in a relatively loud tone of voice, at the other monks.  When the question is given (or the answer is wrong), the standing monks raises his voice and slaps his hands together.  "Name three thingsŠ"&emdash;"I like sportsŠI like to thinkŠUhŠ"

Anyway, we saw the Dalai Lama's former summer palace, which was not maintained very well, and we wandered through the Jakhor Temple, which is still in use in the middle of Barkhor Square, a open space in town filled with street vendors and Buddhists of all ages getting down on the ground in prayer.  Tibet, or at least the little that I saw of it, was an unbelievably fascinating place.  It was definitely a high-point in my year of travels.  On the final night, though, I did get a bit of food poisoning/altitude sickness/sun poisoning (not sure which was the cause of my ailment) and was not a happy camper for the final 12 hours of my time in Lhasa. I flew out early the next morning, heading back to Beijing via Chengdu.  To everyone I met along the way, thank you for making Tibet an unforgettable experience!

      Once back down to a normal altitude, I felt a little better.  I was, however, in desparate need of some Western culture, after being sick and somewhat annoyed at a few events during my amazing trip.  I was in no mood for more Chinese food--my stomach couldn't have dealt with it. Luckily, it was the 4th of July.  My friend, Sayun, and I talked our way into a private U.S. Embassy cocktail party, which was complete with salad bar, McDonald's, Subway, Outback, Baskin-Robbins, Budweiser (although I don't actually drink Bud at home--I am a Sam Adams man), and other American-style foods.  It was just what Dr. Lee ordered.  I filled my gut and was a happy man.  I slowly recovered over the next five days, including an outdoor BBQ, hosted by the American Club, which nicely complemented the 4th of July activities.

          I stayed with my friend, Emily, who I had met on the Yangtze River cruise in May, while in Beijing, and we made our faces known around Beijing over the week that I was back.  One night (actually thanks to a friend of Sayun), we were at a club with some members of the China movie industry, when a butcher knife fight erupted between a few patrons.  Obviously not wanting to stick around for the bloody conlusion, we hightailed it out of the club.  I was herded into a car, and I ended up back at the apartment of one of China's most famous movie directors for a private screening of Traffic.  It was a beautiful apartment, decked out with antiques and modern gadgets (plus pics of his moviestar wife all over the place).  It made for an interesting evening.  A few days later and almost completely recovered from my Tibetan ailment, I boarded a train for Shanghai.

     I am now beginning a new set of travels. I am now in Shanghai for a day or two, on my way toward Suzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, and probably back to SE Asia.  I am hoping it will be a perfect end to my yearlong adventure.  I will keep you posted...Take care of yourselves...