yanpu's Journal

Hello Again

Ni Hao from Beijing. I am back in the land of 2008 Olympics about to embark on the 2^nd part of my China HBV vaccination and education project. Julie and I arrived in Beijing about a week ago. The weather here is similar in temperature to the Bay Area, however the winds are crazy. They say the worst season in Beijing is early spring time when the winds from Inner Mongolia send dust storms whirling into the city. Apparently we are going to be facing similar dust storms when we are in Qinghai. I am so looking forward to that. =/

The roads in Qinghai are still blocked with snow, so Julie and I have decided to stay an extra week in Beijing. We’ve spent most of out time planning and setting goals for this second leg of the program. Our goals this time around is to monitor the final shot in the 3 shot HBV vaccination series, personally teach at rural schools and asses the success of the overall education program by visiting and surveying randomly picked schools. Hopefully we will have gathered enough data to produce a publication or two.

On a different note, in our spare time, Julie and I have been taking walking tours discovering various parts of Beijing. We were disappointed to find that a very historical area of Beijing has been torn down for more modern developments. It is an area referred to as Old Beijing. The neighborhood is made up of Hutongs (small lane or street lined with traditional 1-2 level houses). The neighborhood was known for its history and culture. Julie and I went to the hutongs in hopes of finding a great restaurant known for its Peking duck. Luckily we did find it. It was residing in the part of the neighborhood that had been saved from the destruction. The restaurant definitely lived up to its historical reputation. The Peking duck was Amazing! The restaurant has a traditional coal oven where it roasts the ducks. Everything is done the traditional way with lots of care and attention to detail. The walls of the restaurant are lined with pictures of foreign ambassadors, which seemed unusual considering the restaurant is really a hole in the wall. The dining area fits about 8 tables and pretty much everything’s worn down. The duck though…the duck makes it all worth it!