A day on the town

Yesterday we had the opportunity in the morning to go out and walk around Beijing without our tour guide. We spent two hours just walking different streets in different directions. We found a few small shops. They sold a variety of things from Jade jewelry to groceries. We bought a few pasteries at a little bakery. They were very good. We went into an electronics store similar to Best Buy. A Chinese woman attempted to sell us a refridgerator, all in Chinese, we just smiled and nodded politely, not understanding a word of what she was saying. I was sold on the fridge though. The price was right at 10990 Yuan. Which is about $1600. The delivery fee killed the deal.

Along our walk Heather took pictures of local people. She noticed that throughout the city there are not any birds in the trees. It has been constantly foggy/smoggy since we have been here. This might be the reason. We don't know. Heather took a picture of this elderly gentleman with a small bird in a cage. She liked the picture a lot.

We came back to the hotel for lunch. Heather had french fries. I had Dan Dan Noodles which was a large bowl of noodles with SPICY pork. They were really good. We were sure to ask for the check instead of the bill.

Heather took a nap after lunch and I read a book.

At 4:15 we met our guide Joy in the lobby. She took us to an acrobat show in downtown Beijing. The traffic was insane once again. Joy informed us that on Friday nights many people who work in the city during the week drive out of the city to their homes on the weekends. The main highway out of town was a parking lot.

The show was amazing! No wonder the Chinese won gold medals in gymnastics. People should not be able to bend that way. It's not natural. The lighting and colors were incredible. It was definitely Heather's favorite thing so far. She was in awe of the acrobats strength, skill and precision.

Today, we tour The Great Wall and a Cloissoine Factory. We will be touring all day. We'll send more picture tomorrow.

By the way, Skype is an amazing technology. We have been able to talk to Ellie daily. She can see us and talk to us and it's free. Incredible.

Two more days until we meet Katie. This touring stuff is great, but we're ready to meet our new daughter.