I went to Beijing with my friend in the summer of 2001. We were both working at a TV station then, and after a crazy few months of non-stop production work with no vacation, we just wanted to get away from it all and have a few days of holiday somewhere far, somewhere different, and somewhere where we could forget the stress and pressures of our demanding jobs. I suggested China. It was considered exotic in those days, for China was not yet on the tourist radar among Filipino