Mao Zedong's Revenge

So yeah, I was taller than my door frame.

Virtual soccer!

Creepy fake robots to scare children. Doesn't the little girl look so happy?

Enormous photo of Mao.

Much like Montezuma's revenge, if that means anything too you. I won't be any more explicit than that, but I've only been eating Western food the past few days to avoid unwanted complications to my already fragile GI tract. How many boneless chicken's feet can one eat before your lower intestine revolts? Other than that, I started my illegally copied DVD collection with the first season of Heroes, Transformers, and 28 Weeks later..all for less than a dollar a DVD, argued down from well over 2 per DVD. I guess all those arguments with the manager of a used car lot really honed by bargaining skills.

AND, I'm finally leaving the nitrogen dioxide waste-heap that is Beijing! I'll be heading to the Shenyang, Harbin, and Dalian - once a beach vacation spot for party members, now home the Chinese Naval Academy and a few ferries to Korea and Japan if I decide to jump ship early. If all goes to plan, I'll be conducting focus groups of 8-12 members of overlapping high risk groups. So..men who have sex with men that are sex workers, drug users, prisoners (highly unlikely I'll get access in China), or migrant workers. All made possible by my newly hired interpreter and my nifty iPod attachment that acts as a digital audio recording device. I get to look forward to 20-40hrs of train/bus rides over the next few days. Exciting, right? Well, at least I end in Dalian..or possible Tianjin that have some nice beaches to relax on for a day or two.