As promised, here’s my Beijing wrap-up.

My final five days here were crazy. I decided to forgo the thought of much sleep, knowing I could get in 12 hours once I got on the plane – so, I took in as many sites as possible.

I finally went to Hutong, which is the old, preserved part of the city. We rode rickshaws, toured a family home, and learned of the antiquated lifestyle that is still alive just miles from the very modern city. I also visited the Forbidden City. We walked for miles and only saw a fraction of the area. I had no idea how immense and grandiose it was. We had planned to tour Tiananmen Square, but it was closed, as they were setting up the area with fireworks for the closing ceremonies. I found great irony that the bridge that leads from the Forbidden City to Tiananmen is named “The Place of Heavenly Peace.”

My last cultural stop was one final trip to the Great Wall. Those who know me, knew of my dear Grandma Rupp who passed away two years ago. In her many travels none stood out more than her trip to China and her trek to the Great Wall. Grandma’s ashes have traveled with me (in a tennis can) to some of her favorite places, so it only seemed right that I spread her loveliness off the Great Wall. It was a magical moment. And in case you were concerned, I sent her over the China side – not to the Mongolians. I know Grandma was smiling.

On the eve before the closing ceremony, I finally made it to the water cube, which was one of the few venues I had not yet seen. I would have gone to watch underwater basket weaving but, alas, I got tickets to see the finals and medal ceremonies of synchronized swimming. It was a thrill to watch these women. The camera views under water and from overhead were spectacular.

I know this may be hard to understand, but I chose to not attend the closing ceremonies. I just didn’t have it in me – and there were five of our Senior Staff who had gone to the opening ceremonies (and how do you top that?). Instead, we all went across the street to Dragonfly and got the “double happiness” 4-hands massage! I’ll let you visualize that one.

Prior to heading to dinner, we made a quick stop back at the hotel and “kidnapped” Wallace Spearman Jr. (who also chose not to go to the closing ceremonies). Six of us jammed into our private car, including our bilingual friend who was ordering our dinner while en route to his favorite local restaurant. We had an over-the-top dinner waiting for us when we arrived. It was fun to watch our world class athlete, Wallace, attempt to use chop sticks (there were no forks at this restaurant). He was a good sport and appeared happy for the distraction.

Back at our hotel, we parked ourselves on the couch with all our new hotel friends, had a glass of wine, and watched the remainder of the closing ceremonies. It was an end to a perfect night.

The following day, the last of our guests departed and we all did big high-fives. That evening was the farewell dinner for our local staff – about 30 college-age kids with whom we all fell in love. Our evening started at a local “Hot Pot” restaurant. It was the most adventurous eating I have ever done. Six people sit around a rectangular table with boiling pits in the middle; one that’s spicy and one that just looks like dirty water. Here are some of the delights they threw into the boiling caldron: lining of oxen stomach, mutton, throat of oxen (actually the windpipe), and duck guts. I was very excited to see the mushrooms and bok choy get thrown in. Oh, let me not forget the minced shrimp that came in a tube, which they squirted into the boiling water – and, wa-la, shrimp tubes. I did my best to be a gracious guest and tried everything. I was very grateful for the Tsing Tao beer that my associate and I guzzled down to cool the burning of our lips. We convinced ourselves that the hops and grains were a fine dinner.

If all that wasn’t fun enough, we then went to a Karaoke Club. Karaoke is huge in China, and they take it very serious. I take it serious too…I seriously hate it. But, once again, I was the open-minded traveler and somehow got lured up to the mic to do my rendition of “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”. Give me three Tsing Taos and some duck guts…and the ‘Queen of Soul’ ain’t got nothin’ on me.

Our final full day in Beijing was busy packing up the office and saying good-bye to all our wonderful staff at the Hilton Hotel. There were lots of tears, gifts, and good-byes.

I came to this country with so much trepidation and preconceived notions. However, I grew to love the people and the city. They did a fabulous job of hosting the Olympics – and I quickly learned to separate the people from the government. I’m so thankful for the wonderful opportunity to live this dream for one month of my life. I will have a lifetime of memories. Thanks for letting me share it all with you!

This final letter is in loving memory of my Grandmother and my dear friend Steve Sander.

Jan

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Jan Barranco-Grams is a well-traveled, professional business woman in the travel industry. She is currently on assignment at the Olympics in Beijing. Jan will post Blogs, “Bites from Beijing,” exclusively for HOFN.com that will keep us abreast of her fun lifestyle while in China during the 2008 Olympic Games.
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Our group had tickets to see men’s tennis play today. As a tennis player, I would have loved going, but it was my turn to hold down the fort, plus I had work to get done. Also, having gone to Opening Ceremonies plus Gymnastics, I was okay about staying back.

The irony is that it was Sunday morning when I traditionally go to the “Church of the Tennis Court” with my favorite tennis pals. So after the group left for tennis, my friend, Claire, asked if I wanted to join her at BICF – Beijing International Christian Fellowship Church. While a welcomed idea, it was difficult seeing the broken hearts of the Volleyball Team.

I’m trying to be “PC” and not talk politics or religion, but this was a wonderful experience that I have to share. As most of you must know, religious freedoms are squashed in China, so to attend church you must be a foreign national or an international visitor. You must present a passport to enter and go through security screening. This church was huge, more like a big multi-tiered theater. When we entered, there was a great band playing….none other than the Gatlin Brothers! They played a handful of songs, then the “house band” came on, who were equally wonderful. When the minister came out, he asked the audience to turn to their neighbors and introduce yourself. I met people from Hong Kong, Chicago, Singapore, and California. It truly was an international church – and a very comforting morning. I had a good cry, prayed for peace and healing, and I left with a lighter heart. I was where I was supposed to be this morning.

And, btw, tennis got rained out – and James Blake was scheduled to play. …So, all-in-all, I’m feeling a whole lot better now.

In the afternoon, we headed up to the Great Wall to prepare for our dinner at the old school house – and walked up The Wall to set up our party. We had previously worked out the details, with a timeline that was down to the minute. We had darling little girls who danced, plus men dancers who did the traditional Dragon Dance. Unfortunately, plans changed multiple times, as it continuously rained. However, it was still a great night!

Time for bed. As I predicted, once the games began, sleep and workouts would be minimal.

Wan An!
Jan

Have the Olympics passed the point of no return? Watching the opening ceremony resplendent with fireworks and a multi-million dollar production budget, I got to wondering about the point.

What exactly are the Olympics? The games are certainly are not the world wide celebration of amateur sport the Greeks envisioned when the Summer Games were reconstituted back in 1896 in Athens.

Do we really care about Kobe vs. Yao vs. Pau? Didn’t we just get a winter of that? Do we really need Sharapova playing for Russia when we’ve just had a summer of Wimbledon and look forward to Forrest Hills?

And now, the talk is about golf becoming an Olympic sport in eight years – as if we already don’t know who the best golfer in the world will be in 2016. And as for Olympic soccer, the teams consist of professional players younger than 23, except each team can have two players older than 23.

That’s how 36-year-old Brian McBride found his way on to the US Men’s Olympic Soccer Team. In women’s soccer, however, teams such as those from the US were allowed by rule to send its full professional women’s national team, not that you could tell in our 2-0 opening round loss vs. Norway.

Anyway, what’s the point? Why are we talking about tennis, soccer, golf, basketball or baseball? Things change, I get that, but I liked it better when the Olympics were more about nationalism than commercialism.

Are the Olympics past the point of no return? Probably. But I’ll watch.

Jan Barranco-Grams is a well-traveled, professional business woman in the travel industry. She’s currently on assignment at the Olympics in Beijing. Jan will post Blogs, “Bites from Beijing,” exclusively for HOFN.com that will keep us abreast of her fun lifestyle while in China during the 2008 Olympic Games.

The only saving grace of the 18-hour flight was viewing the US Men’s Water Polo team who were on the same plane. I always try to find a positive in every situation.

I did get pulled into customs, which I thought would be for the 200 bug bands (kind of like human flea collars) that were in my luggage. But no, they wanted to know about the CDs I packed. How many, and what were they for? I do remember reading that pirated CDs are a big problem here. I wonder how much I can get for my Best of Earth, Wind and Fire?

The airport is gorgeous, tidy, huge, very modern, with a million Chinese teens smiling and greeting you.

I’m staying at the brand new wing of the Hilton Beijing. Very hip, modern room with great amenities. So the highlight of my 20-hour travel day, besides standing next to all the handsome Polo Boys at the baggage carousal, was going for the neck and foot massage at this wonderfully tranquil spa called Dragonfly. I slept like a baby the 1st night - thanks to the assistance of Tylenol PMs.

At breakfast this morning, our local staff gal cracked me up, as she exclaims, “I eat myself!” Translation: “Ouch, I just bit the inside of my lip!” I think I’ll find many things to smile about while I’m here.

On my first day in Beijing, our group headed to the Great Wall. We hiked up and down stairs and the Wall for over an hour - then had a very fun ride down the hill in a toboggan. It truly was a thrill to be there. It was surreal to see the Wall go on as far as the eye can see.

We came back to the hotel, worked until 8PM, then went for another massage. One hour costs about 21bucks. I’m going to get used to this.

Zai jian,
Jan