Have a local friend on hand by calcaf38
If you visit a huge city like Beijing in a mad rush like I did, it makes a great difference if you have a local friend who can give you advice, and perhaps show you a thing or two.Young Chinese students are starving for the opportunity to practise their English. I was lucky to make contact with a VT member, Happy_Maoron.
Before my trip, he helped me with some Beijing opera questions, and then we met once I was there.Happy_Maoron and I spent a day I will never forget: we were the first to arrive at the Great Wall, and the last to leave the Summer Palace.
We talked about the historical aspects of the monuments, of course. But we also touched on many subjects, all the way from Iris Chang to Karen Carpenter and the hate-eating-disease (the Carpenters are still extremely popular on Chinese radio).
I definitely would have had a much less satisfying trip without knowing Happy_Maoron. For that, I am very grateful to Virtual Tourist.
