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!