Insurance Agencies of the Future
HuTongs (simplified Chinese: 胡同; : 衚衕; pinyin: hútòng) are narrow streets or alleys, most commonly associated with Beijing, China. In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.
The Great Wall of China was the first adventure of our first day of touring in Beijing. Pictured here is the steepest section of the Great Wall at the location we explored. Gene went part of the way up this section while I explored at a lower elevation. The pictures shared here just won’t do the Great Wall justice. In every direction you look from this vantage point there is the great wall. The views are stunning.
Gene and I left home Saturday morning, October 25, at 3:30AM in order to catch a 6:00AM plane to Chicago on our first leg of our journey to China. Our plane to Shanghai left Chicago at 10:35AM. Some 13 1/2 hours later we arrived in Shanghai. Customs was surprisingly quick and easy, we secured luggage, exchanged US dollars for a wad of Chinese money I have yet to master. We have traveled long distances before with flights of 8 and 11 hours so the length of this flight wasn’t anything we weren’t prepared for. The challenge at this point was that we had a layover in Shanghai of 7 hours before being able to fly to Beijing. Poor choice of connections on my part it seems.
The life of a road warrior gives you many opportunities to lose your stuff. Over the years I have been extremely fortunate. The lost sweater at the hotel in San Antonio was recovered same day it was left in the room. As far as I can remember that is the only thing of value that has been lost or almost lost over the years. I mis-place things all the time. I don’t always carry the same equipment on each trip or always use the same brief case, therefore, I sometimes forget what is where, but the stuff always turns up. I occasionally have this problem with clothing and accessories too. I am now traveling with one of the “real” books that I had before the Kindle so that I have reading material. But what am I going to do about China? Adding heavy books to my luggage will be taking up part of the precious limited weight limit for my clothing. Reading material is mandatory for such a lengthy trip. What a dilemma. Another event in my life of travel that I call The Glamour of the Road.
I recently received an Amazon.com gift certificate for my birthday. I have been wanting a sturdier cover for my Kindle. So just before I left for Fargo I ordered the cover of my dreams and decided to also add a gel to further protect the devise from abuse. When I was packing for my trip to Albuquerque last Sunday I discovered the Kindle was not in the bag I had carried to Fargo. I checked by the bed to be sure I hadn’t taken it out when I got home and just forgotten. No such luck. I knew contacting the airline was in vain, but I had to give it a shot. After going through the process, the Kindle has not appeared. Now I have accessories for the Kindle but it seems the Kindle is gone and I am having Kindle withdrawal. So you ask, “Why don’t you just order a new one?”
Many blogs say Amazon will be releasing Kindle 2.0 in October 2008, however, Amazon is saying no. Of course they are saying no. They still have inventory of the current version to sell. What is a girl to do? If a newer, better model is just a few weeks away, why buy the old model? If the new verions doesn’t come out until sometime next year, can I really wait that long for my reading companion? I have come to depend on my Kindle for travel, doctor’s office visits and bedtime reading at home.
