I have bad kidney chi :-(

Iwent to see a Chinese doctor today for a health check. How did this happen? Well, because as part of one of my local tours of Beijing I was offered the opportunity to visit a pearl necklace. I am not a pearl girl so I asked if they could arrange for me to visit a Chinese doctor instead. Of course, they obliged. Why did I want to see the doctor? Well, I'm unfortunately reaching that stage in a woman's life where my body is undergoing changes and I wanted to make sure all was okay.

Houhai.

H

houhai is the name of a Lake in Beijing and the area that surrounds it. I love this part of town. It has that wonderful mix of urban/suburban, new/edgy, and old/traditional that so appeals to me.

Cabbing it old style.

B

eijing is a thoroughly modern city. Although bicylces are still a very popular form of getting about town, town is so spread out that it's easier to get from point A to point B by car, bus or subway. But many of the hutongs are too narrow to accomodate for even the smallest of cars so in these neighborhoods, bicycles are still the preferred form of transport.

Beijing hutong. The 'hood gone by.

L

ast night when I got back to my room there was a message waiting from me from someone named Ekco. Who? The note read to call her back with regards to my tour for the following day. So he/she was my local guide for the next day. I returned the call and made plans to meet in the hotel lobby the next day.