Day nine cont

Exciting update! Troy lost his front tooth today! We are debating whether the tooth fairy will give him yuan or US Dollars, I am thinking yuan, we will see :)

Day nine

Today was a fabulous day! We started out driving by the Olympic Village, we saw the Birds Nest, the Water Cube, the torch and a really cool dragon building nearby. Then we drove to the Summer Palace, which was just beautiful. It ranks up there with one of my favorite places. We took a boat ride on a dragon boat, that Troy really liked. After that we went to a luncheon of Terris and walked through an art gallery. We then came home and went swimming while Terris ayi, made the most wonderful shiar biang which are vegetable filled pancakes which we are eating for dinner. Tonight Terri and I are going to a lecture on China, and Troy is going to stay and play with the kids and John. I can't believe our trip is almost over, we leave tomorrow. What an incredible once in a lifetime experience.

Day eight

On Monday we had a relaxing start to our day. We went to the pool and swam and played in the park. Terri had a meeting so we walked to a local restaurant and ordered lunch, then Troy and I walked around Beijing, and strolled down a pretty canal near her apartment. Later that night Troy and I hired a car and went to a Kung Fu Master show at the Red Theater. "it was awesome"! I am really glad we went to show, it was impressive!

Day Seven

Yesterday we went to Bublicious! OMG! This was the most decadent meal I have ever had, bigger than even the most outrageous buffets in Las Vegas. You arrive and they give you champagne, and continue to pour until you can drink no more. There was a room the size of a giant candy store with the most wonderful desserts, candy, cupcakes, creme brûlée, tarts, crumbles, on and on. They have roast meats, Thai, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, American, incredible fresh seafood, it went on and on. Terri was truly in heaven with her champagne, popcorn and cotton candy, all at the same time :) After brunch we went for a foot and shoulder massage which was amazing. We are living a life of luxury. After that we went to Jin Shang park which is where the Chinese go and sing songs, play musical instruments, play hackie sack, dance, debate, and meet with friends. There was a large hill which we climbed and a beautiful view of the sun setting and the Forbidden City. Troy said " then we came back to the apartment and ate some more and had a really good dinner. Then we went to bed. We had a fabulous day!"

Day six

Troy said "we went out for breakfast and there were cats and dogs in the courtyard. After that we went to the dirt market called pan ji yuang. Next we went to the Temple of Heaven. There was a wall there that if you knock on it someone on the other side could hear the noise. But we couldn't because it was really noisy. John and me and Tyler came back to the apartment to play pool. After that we played ping pong. After that we went to a really big party. I dressed up as the emporer. There was a lot of people. There was a candy apple where they melted sugar around the crab apples and put them on a stick. They put up a big freezy ice scupture to keep the drinks fresh. It was really cool. There were lots of performers. They had a pole spinning on their back and arms with no protection and it kept spinning. After that we came home and went to bed." We had a craving for western food so went to Grandma's restaurant. Troy had pancakes and I had a breakfast burrito. Funny to come all the way to china for a breakfast burrito, it was really good.. The dirt market was amazing, it is essentially a flea market with a combination of really really old stuff, even things from the cultural revolution. I bought an old book of Mao's poems. There is also a lot of stuff that looks old and is fake. The Temple of Heaven was beautiful, it was surrounded by a huge park that had 800 yr old cypresses. After that Terri and I went for a Chinese massage, it was incredible, truly a treat. We all came back and got ready for the party at Embassy House, it was amazing fun. Food from around the world, live music, ice sculptures, performers, etc. Everyone was encouraged to dress in 1930s Chinese clothes. Troy dressed as the emporer. They had a photographer there and we all had our picture taken dressed up in Chinese clothes. It was a lot of fun!

Day five

Today was amazing, we went to the Great Wall of China. We left early, packed a lunch and drove to Jin Shang a part of the wall about two hours from Beijing. "it was really fun, there are many sections to the wall, it is not one wall". It was a beautiful fall day and the colors had started changing. The wall is not flat, the entire wall is a series of steps going up and down the tops of the mountain range. The portion of the wall we went to is about 650 years old. We hiked for several hours it was a great workout. After that we came home and Sophie, Terri's family's ayi, showed us how to make jiao ze, potstickers. We made and cooked two different kinds, pork and a vegetable for dinner. They were amazing.

Day four

Today was another fun day in Beijing! We walked around the city for much of the day. We started out at the "wet market" which is the market where the Chinese buy their meat and produce. There were live fish that people would buy alive and take home for fresh fish dinner! There were all kinds of strange meats and insects for purchase. The produce looked great, many different kinds. We bought Troy some sugarcane which he really liked and he picked out some candies. After that we walked around the embassy district and then had coffee and pastries at a French bakery. We went to ya shou market. When you buy things you have to bargain, hard. It is ridiculous, they start at 600 yuan and you offer 50 and you negotiate from there...usually negotiating in Chinese. Needless to say I was not a good negotiator. We had lunch at a really good Mediterranean place and ate falafel, hummus and mint lemonades. It was wonderful, we had a very cosmopolitan day. Tomorrow we are hiking the Great Wall of Cina, we are both really looking forward to it!