Fed official: More help needed for borrowers

An influential member of the Federal Reserve called for more financial education to help low-income mortgage borrowers Monday.

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/261385640/index.htm

Fed cuts key interest rates by 3/4 point (Reuters)

Why don't we see the lower rates?

Reuters - The Federal Reserve slashed a key U.S. interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday, a substantial cut but smaller than many in financial markets had expected, as part of an effort to hold off a deep recession and financial meltdown.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080318/bs_nm/usa_fed_dc

Households face the unthinkable: budgeting (Reuters)

Wow, they call this new? - "After years of living large, U.S. households are finally learning what financial experts thought they never would: to live within their means."

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080318/ts_nm/usa_housing_consumers_dc

Mortgage crisis: How bad it's going to get

If there is any word that captures the mood in the economy right now, it's uncertainty, along with shadings of bafflement and distrust. We have never seen a credit crisis quite like this. What's next?

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/252882722/index.htm

Get ready for another Fed rate cut

The two widely accepted facts about the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting Tuesday is that the central bank is worried about the country falling into a recession and that it will again slash interest rates sharply.

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/251466653/index.htm

Why Warren Buffett is buying railroads

I think it's interesting to follow what Warren is up too:

Want to invest in a green industry that employs the latest technology, reduces U.S. oil consumption and is priced very attractively? Look no further than the railroads. Laggards for decades after the 19th-century boom ended, they're hot again.

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/252448162/index.htm

Avoid IRS trouble: 5 red flags

More Americans than ever before are being audited, as the Internal Revenue Service is working hard to collect every single greenback it can. The total number of individual returns audited last year increased 7% from 2006, shooting up from 1.29 million to 1.38 million audits in 2007.

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/251269312/index.htm

Back in the US

My trip is coming to an end. It was fun and I'm looking forward to going again.

Stocks fly as Fed's cash injection eases credit fear (Reuters)

Stocks rallied more than 3 percent on Tuesday, giving the S&P 500 its best advance since October 2002, after the Federal Reserve said it would add up to $200 billion to strained credit markets in a coordinated effort with other central banks.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080311/bs_nm/markets_stocks_dc

Dalian - Big Black Mountain

The best in Dalian was probably the Stone Drum Temple on Big Black Mountain. We entered at the bottom of the mountain and hiked up to the top. Here are a few pictures along the way:

It's fun to see something up close then seeing it from half was up

At the top was the temple area. It's a little strange hiking up into the mountain and all of a sudden you're at a clearing with a temple:

Yep, I'm a dork...

Trip to see my sister

My trip to India got cut so I get to stay in China a few extra days. So, I hopped a plane to Dalian for the weekend. It was just like a flight to Chicago, take off, get a drink, land. It was fun to meet all Mandy and Darren's friends. We did get to see some things while I was there:

From the beach we walked up into a park

You do tons of walking here in China

More Food Stuff

Well, guess all I have done is eat. I can now add roasted duck and fish heads to my list of things I have had on this trip. The roasted duck was more of an experience. They bring out the duck and once you approve they cut it up on front of you. The skin of course is a big part of it. I'm not a fan of skin on chicken so I wasn't all that impressed. But, the meat is combined with about four types of dipping things and something I can only call a small light soft shell. How you eat: 1) take a shell and add a few pieces of meet dipped in the black souse 2) add in some other white and red sticks that I think were cucumber and radish 3) roll-up and eat

Oh, and the fish heads, it was a little nasty to see the head looking up and you but you don't eat it. You just pick out the meat from the bones.

Temple of Heaven

So, I just ran over after work for a quick look. I wished I had more time to see this HUGE park. The crazy thing is that the whole park is behind this wall.

Here are a few of the temples that are around. They are not close together - must be miles of park in the wall

As you can see in the pics it got dark quick. It was still really cool at night:

I was past the time to see the ocho wall so I did miss out on most of the main things to see. I think you could spend the whole day in this park and still not see it all.

CCTV Tower

Well, it's almost the same as the one in Vegas but it was still fun to see it. Here is details on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_TV_Tower

This the the pic of the location some of the press conferences will be done for the Olympic games.

Below is the video of the actual tower

And here is the view from the top

The ride home (home for this week anyway) was strange. I had to go to 4 taxis before I got one that could read the name of my hotel. I thought I was safe with the card that is in Chinese that you just hand them but I was wrong. BTW, I took the Subway today also and it was the same as every other subway I have been on.

Work and Eat and Eat

This morning at breakfast I tried a waffle. It was really strange, a cross between a true waffle from Belgium and a Belgium waffle from the US. I watched them make it because it wasn't a batter, it was more like an extra big doughy biscuit that they put on a standard waffle maker. Side note, if anyone knows how to make waffles like they have in Belgium please let me know, they are great. So, way off tangent..

When I'm at work there isn't much to talk about but food. Today for lunch I went to this noodle place I love. Actually, I think this was the third time I have been there. Anyway, I ended up with some pepper noodle dish I sure wasn't expecting. So, that how you get good with chopsticks, order something that is so hot if you don't pick out the peppers your nose will run the rest of the day at work. You might think you would have time to fix a mistake like that but it's just plain crazy at lunch around here. There are tons of people and the places that are fast food are packed. The reason I bring this up is because the noodle place (sorry, the name is in Chinese) is a sit down restaurant and I wanted to get it to go. It's like playing guessgures every time I go out.

Dinner was a blast because we when out with a big group from work. I got to try all different types of things. My favorite was this sesame steak dish that was great but this shrimp/pineapple thing was a close second. The stranger things were different types of fish, some Veggie dishes, and some sushi type roles. I did stay away from the ell, whole baby fish, and some other thing I had no idea about. Guess today was the food day.

The Great Wall

We went to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, which is about 90 minutes from Beijing. We had to get a driver for half the day to do it but it supposed to be a better part of the Wall.

The Great Wall is breath taking. It's like the Grand Canyon in that you almost think what is in the distance is fake. It's so hard to explain but you almost have to just see it.

Since the wall is so old nothing would meet regulations. No step are the same size and almost nothing is level, but it's amazingly solid.

The parts of the wall they let you walk on are actually sections that have been fixed since it was first erected. Here is the area once you go past what is new (using the term new lightly)

Mandy and Darren have some other great pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/DarrenjSeath/BeijingPowerWeekend

Actually had dinner at a TGIF's. I know, what I'm I doing there of all places. Well, it turns out that you can't get a good hamburger in China so you have to go to a western area. Unlike McD's and KFC's the TGIF's was actually like a TGIF's. Most of the food was the same and the people working (although Chinese) had the outfits and flare on. Overall it was a little strange but it did have English menus so you can't complain to much.

Site Seeing Saturday - The Palace Museum (Forbidden City)

It would be hard to write about everything we did today. So, here is Pics of everything:

Entry way:

Me, before we got onto the grounds:

Pics can only show part, here are some scans of the area:

There is so much to see, I will have to add to this post later with more pictures.

Site Seeing Saturday - Tiananmen Square

The worlds largest public square

The famous hotel where the press was held

Site Seeing Saturday - Whole in the wall lunch

In the Hutong area (700 year old alley community) here is the whole in the wall place we had lunch. I think it might have been the dirtiest place I have ever eaten but the food was great. My mom had been to this place with my sister and since neither had died I figured it was ok.

Site Seeing Saturday - Silk Market

I didn't get any pictures of the Silk Market. Think of a huge flea market in your mind and stack about 5 on top of that. It was so crazy I can't explain it. Everyone is grabbing you to have you look in there shop and there are thousands of shops. I'm not joking, I really would say around a thousand shops but may had similar things for sale. Note, may were also owned by the same person so if your 'shopping around' make sure you go to may of them.

If you go, leave all emotions at the door. They will start crazy high and only come down of price when you walk away. They also will lie to you with no problem: say it's at the cost to make it but end up selling it to you for less, agree on a price then say it was for a smaller version, hold something up with a price but have the price actually be for something different, or my favorite get pissed and throw something b/c your taking advantage of them. I kept falling for the 'this shirt 2 USD' but when you stop and say you'll take it they pull out some crap shirt. I did buy a great wall shirt for 2 USD by the way so you can get a good deal. Just don't go if you need something and be able to walk away and not buy it. Oh, and I thought lots of the stuff was crappie made knockoffs. I have no problem with knockoffs but at least make a quality version of it.