Walking around Beijing

Dianne looking fabulous at Tiananmen

Marc at the Temple of Heaven

Over a big hotel breakfast buffet while deciding how best to see the city on our free day (metro? taxi?), Dianne had the best idea of the day. "Why don't we just walk it?" And walk we did. 8-9 miles or so of "walking around, looking around" and taking it all in.

Before we headed out, we exchanged money and skyped Alex back home. He was excited to see us on the computer before quickly becoming bored. Skype is a wonderful tool that will allow us to avoid breaking the normal tedium of home life. haha. I'm sure when we skype Malia for the first time there will be much more interest.

We headed west from our hotel on the Second Ring road at Dongsishittao, stopping only at a grocery for water. Crossing streets immediately became an issue. You've got cars. And scooters. And bikes. And they are all coming from all angles with no regard for rules or safety. We'd try to follow local pedestrians, but that's no good because they are 100% fearless and cheating death just as we would be without them. Eventually we just started looking around 360 degrees and preparing to Walter Payton at any moments notice. That seemed to work well enough.

We reached Beiheyan avenue and turned south towards Tiananmen. It's a park lined street, where we saw old Chinese men playing something that did not look like chess,
and lots of families and babies. Marc was disappointed that we didn't seem to get the bewildered stares he was hoping for. Maybe it's because we are not blond. Maybe because it's Beijing. Maybe because it is 2011. Look at us people! We've got big noses and should be stared at! :)

At the end of Beiheyan we reached Changan avenue and headed west to Tiananmen. Lots of people, lots of tours, lots of security cameras, lots of open space. A flag we did not recognize was being displayed level with the PRC flag. We later learned that the head of state of Myanmmar (Burma) was in town. Also, Kim Jong Il ended a trip to Beijing the day we arrived, heading by train back to Pyongyang from the station just down the road from our hotel. So, uh, THAT'S happening. :)

After a lot of photos and taking a pass on the Mao mausoleum (too many people, maybe not even his real body), we headed south along the shops of Qianmen avenue where we stumbled upon..........wait for it........a Starbucks. We instead opted for a little Chinese cafe where we had two Chinese beers and some mystery meat (nothing goes to waste in China!). The highlight for Marc was asking for the restroom and being led out of the restaurant through a windy Chinese Hutong (historic neighborhood) to a community "bathroom" with locals. Awesome! Also spotted our first KFC. Not the last!

By the end of Qianmen, a rickshaw driver tracked us down. Sure, a rickshaw to the temple of heaven, why not? So instead of being a nearly squashed pedestrian, we'll try being a nearly squashed rickshaw rider. Got a great video of the mayhem from the back.

The temple and its surroundings were beautiful and a welcome relief from the city. We walked the entire complex, and were disappointed only by the lack of locals doing Tai Chi for our benefit. Marc made Dianne do an impromptu Tai Chi on video, which will have to suffice. By now, it's late afternoon and we are beat. So we hoof it to the metro. Two lines and seven stops later we are back at our hotel.

And yes, Marc fell asleep at 6:00. And woke up at 2:00 a.m. And is now starting the day at a ridiculous hour by typing this entry. Need more time to adjust.

It's tour day today! We'll meet other American families adopting and see the Great Wall & Forbidden City. We are well rested and ready to go, unlike many of them. I'm sure we will hear "I told you we should come a day early Fred" at least once. :)