The end the conference

Today was the last day of the conference. I must admit that I'm not too upset that it's over. I didn't gain much from the talks, but I did learn a lot from individual people. I've now got quite a bit of new work that I'd like to do in the near future! So, I guess the conference was worthwhile!

Tomorrow is going to be a fun day. My plan is to get to Tianjin. Various people were taking bets on whether I'd get there or not, but nobody was willing to bet that I would. I've just had this positive sounding email from a friend in Sydney "Are you in Tianjin now? Maybe you can explore the city and let me know whether it's worth going, i guess there must be somewhere nice," ....

Even if Tianjin isn't nice, I've just discovered a passenger ferry that goes between Tianjin and Kobe in Japan! Unfortunately it's a two day trip and so that will have to wait until next time. If it all goes to plan then I'll be getting on the World's fastest conventional trains. It takes 30 minutes with a maximum speed of 350km/hr. That's fast. Travel in Beijing is so exciting. There are trains leaving for Lhasa, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Moscow and Ulan Bator. But ... maybe I'll forget trains and just get a bicycle ... see photo 2 (sigh).

After the conference finished I again decided to go for a stroll around the local area. I went North. This was away from basically everything. I walked down a small alley and had an amazing time looking at all the food that was being cooked. I found an old guy making a huge pancake-like thing (it must have been 1-m or more in diameter) and convinced him to give me a chunk for 1 RMB. It was so tasty. I also tried another bun stuffed with something. I probably didn't need to eat anything else, but I kept walking ... past a clothes market on the street ... watched a guy carry a curled up hedgehog on the end of a string (presumably to eat when he got home), tried (and failed) to find some more toothpaste and then decided to get some more food. I found a nice looking restaurant and got well looked after!! I only had about 12 waitresses trying to help me choose some food :) One ended up pouring my tea, another my beer (I'm going to have to learn the Chinese for a drink that's not beer), another helped me hold my chopsticks :), one randomly brought me a superb cold soup that had something tasty but slimy in the bottom ... I ended up with lots of beer, soup, a bucket full of rice (suitable for at least ten people) and an enormous meat dish (I won't be more specific). I ate about 1/4 of it.

I staggered back down the street. Amazingly found my hotel, chatted on skype and am now ready for bed. I like China!