Eric's Beijing Diary

Pulled into Jilin this morning on the night train from Beijing. Grace and Jenny me at the station,and took me to the hospitlal where a guest room was waiting. These folks are very friendly and hospitable. Jenny had sent me an invitation earlier. When I first heard from her, I wasn't sure who she was or why she was writing to me. But I think what happened is that she responded to an email I had sent to Anne Marie when Anne Marie was using her email account to send email. Anyway, she invited me to visit Jilin.

I have been in China two years, now, and this is only my third trip to Dongbei (Manchuria). I have mentioned this before, but the cost of lodging in Dongbei communities tends to be higher, because there isn't the abundance of backpacker type lostels and dormitories that you find in western China. I paid 15 RMB per night in Chengdu, but more commonly 25 RMB for dormitory style housing in Western China. Youth hostels in Guangzhou and Xi'an were higher--50 RMB per night. But I could stay for 10 days in either of those places for the price I paid for one night at the Dalian Binguan, which, by the way is a nice place--no complaints, but it's just a little too expensive.

So the invitation to come here was particularly appreciated, because I am able to stay in a guest room at the hospital where Jenny's mom works. Jenny's mother is a pharmacist, and her father is the architect who designed the hospital where her mother works, and where I stayed. Grace is the administrative assistant/translator.

This afternoon we went to Beishan Park. The view from the top of the mountain (hill) in the park reminded me a lot of Akita, my home town in Japan I had come to Jilin to see the famous Jilin rime, but I left Beijing in a snow storm (which is rare in Beijing), and the storm came with me.

Walking around the park, we came to a skating rink. Grace and Jenny and I decided to do some skating, while Jenny's classmate, and mother watched from the side. I wasn't sure how it would go, since I haven't put on a pair of ice skates in oh, so many years. Nothing to write home about, but I managed to hold my own. Upon leaving the rink, we were acosted by a guy selling horse rides, and another guy selling dogsled rides. Jenny and I got on the horse, and the other three took the dogsled. It was a kiddie ride--they don't let you hold the reins yourself, but it was Jenny's first time on a horse, so that probably was not a bad thing.