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One last post! Did see some strange things on menus including this (fried pigeon)... Other things included donkey and of course dog ("a lot of men eat it, it makes them stronger! " I was assured). Eh no... Not tempted.. Not even a little...

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Last pic of the trip, unless something really exciting happens on the way to the airport!

I have no idea what these are.  These were in the mini-snack bar in my hotel room (Beijing Prime Hotel - pretty nice place otherwise).

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On way to and at Sanlitun Bar/Food district.  This includes a very big, posh mall, which I don't think was there in 2004 the last time I was here.  I was actually trying to get to a noodle restaurant and hopped into a cab outside my hotel.  Problem is, the cabbie had no idea where the restaurant was, and kept gesturing me to look up more information on it.  Unfortunately, my internet was dead on my phone (I think those doofuses at China Unicom didn't set up my account correctly, and everything expired when the month changed).  I ended up getting out of the cab after getting tired of the cabbie repeatedly miming me to call the restaurant, and me miming back that I can't and that my phone isn't working.

Problem was, I had no idea where I was.  I started having flashbacks of being stuck in Tokyo, middle of nowhere, no idea where I am and starving hungry..

Luckily, this rickshaw driver at least got me to Sanlitan, where there is a ton of stuff to eat.  Ended up at a pretty nice Dim Sum/Cantonese place, so alls well that ends well...

Sanlitan, really, could be a mall/district anywhere in Asia, and maybe anywhere in the world.  If blaring music and booze is what you're looking for, this has lots of it!   Low key it is not.

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Chinglish!  Overall, signs make a lot more sense, and there are less errors than their used to be.  But every now and then they still slip through..

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Pocari Sweat!  They have to get this stuff back home.  Basically just a sports drink like Gatorade.

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Temple of Heaven!  Now, this place was freakin' crowded - one of the "must see" sights in Beijing.  If the building looks familiar, it probably is - it is frequently used in any media involving Beijing / China as one of its major landmarks.

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Never would have occurred to me - but now that you mention it...

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Bell and Drum towers in Beijing.  Everything is aligned on a North-South axis including the Imperial City and Temple of Heaven.  These sites were not so crowded, but there wasn't as much to see either.  Did have some street food (fried chicken and steamed buns) which was probably the best part of coming out here.

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Night scenes in the Wanfujing / Donghuamen night market area.  This includes all kinds of creepy-crawlies on a stick, and various mystery meats.  The last time I was here, there was signage in English, often hilarious with things like "Goat Cock and Balls" on the menu.  Everything was in Chinese this time, not sure why - maybe some found the other signs offensive?

Those scorpions on a stick were still alive and trying sadly to run away.

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Changbai Mountain!  Or in Korean, Mt. Paektu.

This is a volcanic lake, and apparently really important culturally to both the Chinese and Koreans.  It straddles North Korea and China, and is an area where some unlucky hikers have previously misstepped into North Korea and been arrested.

I was ridiculously excited to be able to see the mountain from the air by complete luck on the flight back to Beijing.  I excitedly pointed it out to my neighbor, coincidentally a Korean-american.  She seemed less excited, and really only vaguely aware that the mountain was in the area.  Which makes me wonder what she was really out there for..  Let the conspiracy theories start..  Hmm...

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This is at the North Korean karaoke bar/lounge/performance in my hotel (The Yanbian International).  Kind of interesting/surreal.  The performers are all from Pyongyang, and are here in China doing an externship following the completion of university (at least, that's what I think, based on my broken Korean conversation).  I think they are all arts/music majors as they were all pretty good (well, if warbly, operatic Korean songs are your thing).  Including one girl who played this harp/guitar instrument thing and just killed it.  I think I saw a video on Youtube somewhere of someone playing "Thunderstruck" on one.

The hostesses were pretty friendly, and didn't seem too put off by my South Korean ancestry (I just got the usual "why don't you speak Korean better?  You should, you're Korean" kind of stuff...  I guess people are the same everywhere).  They did seem a little cautious, like everyone was watching each other - heck, I felt like maybe I was being watched a little too.  I purposely avoided bringing up any cultural or controversial topics for fear of getting either them or myself into trouble.

Interesting thing - while I refer to the Korean language as "Hangul-mal", they refer to it as "Chosun-mal", which I think is a older term.  I imagine that me repeatedly calling it "Hangul-mal" (not intentionally), is about as annoying to them as when someone says they speak "American".  They also spoke with a bit of an accent that at times didn't help.

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Couple more shots around Yanji, including their University Hospital.

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My cabbie took us *really* close to the border.  Over my shoulder, across the river, is North Korea.  Hate to do a touristy pic like that at such at serious place, but my cabbie seemed determined to snap a photo of me standing there.

The other photo shows the barbed wire at a Chinese part of the border.  We drove a little out of the ways to get here, and you can see in the third photo that there is a hole dug under the barbed wired someone can easily crawl through (I sure as hell wasn't going to try).  I wonder if this is a transfer point for people sneaking back/forth across the border.

I can't read the Korean on the flag, but maybe it acts as a marker so people can find the spot?  Interesting stuff.

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Couple views of a Buddhist temple in Tumen.  I was taken around town in a cab today.  He didn't speak English or Korean, but he did get some lady on the phone who did speak Korean.  I had no idea who she was, but managed to communicate to her that I was a tourist and wanted to see the sites.

Made my cabbie's day as he zipped me around town and beyond for the afternoon.  Stupid me though - I neglected to negotiate a price at the beginning, so was a little at his mercy at the end - total damage 300 yuan, a little less than 50 bucks.  Oh, and I also bought him lunch at a Korean restaurant.  That was cheap at least.  Lunch for 2 was less than 10 bucks - including the 2 sodas and a bottle of water I went through trying to rehydrate..

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So I traveled today to Tumen (in Korean, Do-Moon), which is immediately across from the North Korean border.  I mean *really* immediately - you could easily hit a golf ball across, although I wouldn't recommend it.  You can actually travel into North Korea from here with a tour without a full on visa, as it is part of a "buffer" zone with China where they are trying to encourage trade and economic development.

Most of the pictures show views into North Korea.  The sign I thought was funny because it says "No shouting and photograghing at korea".

The pin is supposedly a real "official" Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-Sung pin issued to every citizen.  I think these are not usually sold, except on the black/grey market where they've been obtained from escapees (or at least that's what the lady in the souvenir store would have me believe).  She wanted about $100 for it, but I declined.  Something about it just seemed wrong.  I don't know, wrong to make someone's else's plight a souvenir, or wrong to in some way promote them...

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Street food!

Fortunately, labeled in Korean as well as Chinese, so I can safely order "pork", and stay away from other stuff (whatever it was).

Meat on a stick was immediately deep fried, then rolled through a chili pepper paste - delicious!  Breakfast of champions.

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Views around town at night!

This is a common thing in China - the slightly cheesy neon lighting on buildings.