May 25
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September 18 - 25
September 30 - October 30
November 10 - January 9
January 14 - March 10
March 26 - 31
This page: Matthew Goes to China, April 3 - 20
April 26 - May 19

Matthew Goes to China

April 3 - 20, 2006

Beijing was very cold.

The taxidriver sat in a cage.

And complained about the traffic.

In Beijing it must be difficult to be a movie star because Jackie Chan has to sell condos.

And King Kong sells phones.

We stayed at a guesthouse in a traditional courtyard down a hutong. Hutongs are old alleyways with old houses that are supposed to show how life in Beijing used to be.

I guess no one cares what Beijing used to be as this is what most hutongs look like now.

Daddy decided he wasn't going to carry me around China anymore.

And Daddy was very happy.

Mommy, too.

And I made new friends.

Even my own age.

Wangfujing is a big shopping area. One afternoon Daddy left me here with Mommy and Grandma and we got lost.

It was night time when Daddy came back to find us.

Beijing has wide streets and sidewalks.

In 2008 Beijing will host the Olympics. Everything is under construction, but it looked more like destruction to me.

China has for a long time been famous for its toilets. Now China wants to make the toilets more famous.

It is very crowded in China.

I got lost in the crowd.

But they found me again.

Beijing has many fine Chinese restaurants

And markets.

I ate a lot in China.

We visited famous places in Beijing.

Tiananmen Square.

The Forbidden City.

The Summer Palace.

We visited the Great Wall of China at Mutainyu.

Nobody wanted to carry me up the mountain so we cheated and took the cable car.

Everyone who visits China is supposed to walk the wall.

So I did.

And gave up.

Twice.

For some reason people who visit the wall want you to know they were there.

Pictures are better and you don't have to read the wall to know I went.

Then we took an express train to Shanghai.

May 25
May 26 - June 2
June 3 - June 9
June 20 - July 11
July 23 - September 9
September 18 - 25
September 30 - October 30
November 10 - January 9
January 14 - March 10
March 26 - 31
This page: Matthew Goes to China, April 3 - 20
April 26 - May 19

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All text and photographs © 1998 - 2006 Gordon Sharpless. Commercial or editorial usage without written permission of the copyright holder is prohibited.