Stuck in Beijing

Hey everyone! So, in case you haven't heard, I am NOT back in the States yet. Right now I am stuck in Beijing, courtesy of Air China. I booked a ticket for an 11:30am flight from Lanzhou to Beijing, but when I arrived at the airport in Lanzhou at 10am, I was told that the flight time had been changed to 10:35am and was boarding and that I could not get on the plane! So I got a free flight change to Beijing, and I had to do some negotiating with Asiana Airlines to arrange another flight, but the first available wasn't until September 6th, so that is my new homecoming date. I am staying in a place called Yong Tai Xiao Qu 永泰小区, which is very nice, and pretty convenient. There are lots of restaurants and an internet bar and markets, but the catch is no foreigners and no English speakers. I guess it's a good thing, because I'm studying Chinese here and it's the perfect opportunity, but I really miss speaking English. I've been speaking Chinese all day every day since I got here on August 20th. It's nice, though, to be back here. I can go to the rest of the tourist sites I didn't get to visit last time I was here. I still have to go to the Summer Palace and Chairman Mao's Mausoleum (did I spell it right?), then I'll be done with the major sites! It's also a good time to sit down and reflect about my trip in China - I've decided I want to write a kind of cultural guide book or something like that based on my experiences here. I've got like 40 something pages done, so I'm on my way! Chairman Mao's Mausoleum - click to enlarge: Anyway, the money on this netbar computer is almost out, so I gotta go, bye!

Recently

Sorry, I know it's been a really long time! I've been using my paper journal instead of my blog lately.   The signs that I'm going home are popping up everyday - people inviting me to their homes, but I won't be able to have time, saying goodbye to friends, people going home for the summer holiday. I've started buying a few souvenirs as well, which is something that I never really do. I'm more of a pictures kind of guy, I don't like trinkets.   I went to Guangzhou about a week ago or so. Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) is a cool city with a lot of history and cool places to go. I went to the BaiYun Mountain, the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, and some other places. The city itself is cool and very developed, but the people are pretty rude. I keep calling it the NYC of China because the people just weren't cool.    I've been stuck in Lanzhou because I can't get train tickets to anywhere else - now is the peak travel time. I've gone to the train station the past 4 days in a row and still haven't been able to buy train tickets to Chongqing. I guess Chongqing isn't ready for me. I might go to Qinghai Lake instead. I've seen pictures and it looks pretty legit!   I've gotta go now, but I'll post a longer and better post tomorrow because now I'm using a friend's computer in his dorm.   Bye!