The Train to Tianjin (aka Harbin East)

The Tuesday after we arrived we decided to take the high speed train to the city of Tianjin. It's on the east coast of China, and by this train it's only 30 minutes away. Why Tianjin? Because they have a Bavarian brewery there, that's why! They had an excellent Hei Pi (Dunkle, Dark beer) and the food was a rustic style Chinese, which was interesting and good!

Here's a picture of Lightnin with our friend Aaron and the brewery/restaurant staff in the background


Here are the two of us in the square near the river just outside the main train station


Just in case you were wondering, yes you can get a Bud in China












On the way back to Beijing the train hit a rocketing fast speed of 335km/hr (208mph) and it was a surprisingly smooth ride.

Welcome Back, from your friend Winter!

Have I ever mentioned that I really don't like winter?



Here's what we returned home from our trip to find!












The worst part is that it had melted and re-froze a few times before we returned home to shovel it so it was a mixture of snow and ice. It took me several hours the first day back to clear off the drive!




It was a great trip and with the help of our friends Tracy and Chris we were able to find a couple of replacement SiChuan restaurants. One of our favorites had been torn down along with Tim's Texas Roadhouse, but that's a whole 'nother story that I'll get to later!

Anyway, here's a few pictures of some of the cuisine we sampled at a place called "Spice Spirit":

Spicy Chicken - This was crispy, tender, spicy hot, and delicious!

Numb Mouth Beef - Those little peppercorn things floating around are the infamous Hua Jiao that is the secret to authentic SiChuan cooking! This dish lived up to it's name too!

Lettuce Root - Awesome presentation, and a nice cool soothing side dish to go with the two above

Kung Pao Shrimp - A wonderful sweet, tart, and spicy dish











Stay tuned because there's more photos and stories from the trip to come!

Year of the Tiger

Unfortunately we were not able to connect to Blogger while in Beijing over the past couple of weeks, so I'll have to play a little catch-up here to post some of the pictures from this trip.

I'm going to attempt to load a video and if it is successful you will get a chance to experience a little bit of the Chinese New Year celebration, but this still doesn't capture what it feels like to see this in real life!



You have to understand that this went on every day with firecrackers, larger than our M-80s, starting at 7am and fireworks from sun down until just after midnight. the largest night displays take place on the first night, the 5th night, and the last night of the New Year. The final night is the largest!

We're still trying to get our days and nights back on track and will be posting the rest of the stories and pictures over the next few days!

It's Back to the Jing!

Just a quick note to let whomever it is that still reads this blog know that we'll be heading back to the Jing for a little vacation. So stay tuned, or not, and I'll see if I can't put out a few more entertaining posts while on the road!