Half Dome – Yosemite Musing

Hopping on plane out of Beijing for SFO today. 11 hr flight going east riding the jet stream. It was 14 hours flying west. The China of today is changing rapidly. It’s now a merge of Communist socialism and capitalism. Yes, there are plenty of stores willing to take your greenbacks. Nothing is a bargain here, but they do have many products we just don’t see in the US. I bought a pair of swim goggles with prescription lenses. Luckily on international flights you can take 2 bags up to 50 pounds each. I have one jammed with souvenirs. The air has been consistently smoggy. For the Olympics they basically shut down Beijing’s factories  and cars so it was not bad. But my photos have that tinted grey haze out in the distance. Relative to us, I’ve learned  a lot about the melding of Western and Chinese Medicine. They now have western medical practices taught here and we are examining the usefulness of Tai Chi and acupuncture for help. The Chinese have been doing these for centuries and you see a lot of very old people and hardly any overweight folks. OK, enough babbling, Radio Free Half Dome will be back on the air with pictures (too big to pump thru the ship internet.) later this week. Only a month until the magic cables spring to life and the season resumes.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “I like Chinese.” – Monty Python’s Flying Circus

*MrHalf Dome-Rick Deutsch-www.HikeHalfDome.com*