Beijing and the Olympics

banquet Chinese style

The GB team rowers set up at the hotel


On our last night in Yangshuo we managed to have dinner with a couple of locals Les had befriended playing chess and headed out to their restaurant for dinner. Food was delicious and they invited us early the next morning before our flight to have a cooking lesson with their chef. Who could turn down that offer. Bright and early we headed back to the restaurant with slightly sore heads after the rice wine toasting of the night before and were taken straight out back to the kitchen. We mastered another four dishes and shared our cooking with the staff and new friends before catching the taxi to Beijing. All well, once again my pass gave us the VIP treatment. We thought we had a direct flight but low and behold 1.5 hours into the flight we landed at an airport in the middle nowhere with overtones of drug running and machine guns. All legit and after 30 mins took off to Beijing where security was so tight. Caught the subway to our old hotel returned to the airport and a driver took us out to our hotel arriving at midnight to find I was allowed in after being checked but Les didn't have the any accreditation so he was out of luck. An hour later in 35 degree heat he was cleared and could walk to the hotel entrance and book in. A long night, went to sleep and now in Olympic mode.