Bye Beijing!

Arthur's back! He had gone home for the national holiday and came back last night. He arranged to pick us up this morning and off we went. We stopped at an area famous for it's coffee shops, bars, and shopping. We had rickshaw ride through the area and also through nearby streets that were the homes of people. They often have walls along the alley way and a door through the wall into homes or multiple homes. It was a great way to see real Beijing life, although I did feel a bit sorry for the guy cycling and pulling us along. I was riding with Yasmin and Roya and Nadim and Arthur road together in another rickshaw.

After that we headed out for lunch. The Chinese food we get at home is definitely not the real thing! We had all sorts of traditional dishes that Arthur ordered from the local menu. There is another menu that they provide to tourists with inflated prices and dishes that are not really traditional. We had a sort of bean and flour dough roll, pork lungs (kind of chewy, not my favourite), something that looked like french fries, but wasn't (still good though, especially with the sauce), some fried and crunchy stuff (kind of like wantons), and two different kids of noodle dishes, one of which was typical of Beijing. We had never had Chinese Hotpot, so Arthur said that although it was usually done as a separate meal that we should try it. It was kind of like a big broth fondue, except you make a soup out of it. We added lamb, vegetables, tofu, and noodles and let it cook, then scooped it out and ate it with some delicious sauce. All was very good and although we wanted it to be out treat because we wanted to thank Arthur so much, he wouldn't allow us to. Arthur is an amazing host. I kept waiting for the catch, but there was none. He's just a super, amazing guy!

After lunch we headed off to Jingshan Park. It is a park that is in line with the main buildings of the Forbidden City and it is on a hill, so you can see the Forbidden City and the rest of the Beijing quite well. Beijing is centered around the Forbidden City and the buildings are not tall in the center, but as you go out, in every direction you can see tons and tons of skyscrapers. This is the largest city I've been in (over 16 million people) and it is quite amazing to me.

In there park there were people singing and some telling stories, or playing music, or dancing. The above picture is of a couple putting on a little show for everyone. It was quite cute.

We made it home by 4:00 which is when we had planned to meet the kids at the park. Some of them came bearing gifts. The girls went home with suckers, sticky balls, oranges, a toy car, and crowns necklaces and bracelets made from a nearby willow tree! I had run off to the photo shop to get prints of a family picture and one of the picture of the all the kids climbing on the play structure. So our gift to them was a couple of photos each. We left them our e-mail and regular mail addresses so who knows, maybe our paths will meet again one day!

We got home to the apartment late because the kids played so long at the park. We've been packing up, which is a task that I hate. It's pretty much done now, so we can relax for a bit before we head to bed. Tomorrow we leave for the train in the morning and don't arrive until the following day. I hope we have a good Internet connection when we get to Hong Kong.

CM