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Here are some pic's from yesterday, will write some later... xox Jeff went to get his glasses, he is not back yet I am starting to worry. Xox

Well, but of course, Jeff did get back… We had shopped together for some eyeglasses yesterday (see the picture)… he was delayed by the sight of a few more “bargains” that just HAD to be purchased. He got an additional 2 pair of glasses for himself, and two for me, and I think one more for Cindy. While there he insisted that they give him a present… which they did. (after buying in an afternoon, what they normally sell in a week or more)… but that took a bit of time to translate. The delayed start of the day was a good thing for me. I got to sleep in, and I got to do this blog entry for yesterday : - O

Our first joint venture of the day (that would be yesterday if we try to put the text w/ the photos) was the Temple of Heaven. We took a cab to the southeast section of town. The streets were filled to capacity with cars and even more people bicycling to work. The street scene is amazingly congested, glad that the Yuan has such a favorable exchange rate or the cab rides would be exorbitant. As we entered the temple grounds we saw large groups of people, usually older “retired” types, doing all sorts of exercise. The most interesting to us were the traditional Chinese dances, some w/ fans and other w/ banners.




I’ve posted one dance below.

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Jeff liked the groups who were doing hackly-sack, a bit more than I did, but we both found it ironic that a game we all associate with being a young skater type American adolescent is a favorite of Chinese retired women. The “sack” that they use is a metal base connected to several brightly colored feathers. Kind of cool to watch the graceful movements involved in keeping it in motion. There were also machines for arm and leg exercise and parallel beams… and all were being used, there was not a single place in this area that was not a hustle of activity. We continued along to the temple itself, it was an impressive site. Its circular design towered many stories above us, with an intricate series of steps and walkways. To us many of the temples and pagoda structures were (as I began to think of them) “macro-museums” it was the structures and their settings we found most worthy of our attention. In fact, often there were few rooms accessible for any type of displays that would be common to many museums. While taking one of our many “water and ice pop” breaks I was again approached by some young girls. They had come prepared... They wanted me to write astatement for them within a pink and red heart shaped postcard. It should contain my thoughts regarding the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. Then could I please sign it and one more thing… could they take a picture with me. I was passed the bewilderment stage of my new career as an “exotic” for the locals… It all seems so “part of the experience” to me. I of course was agreeable to their requests. Jeff, was feeling a bit left out… but a few moments later… they asked him also : - ) As we left the park we noticed two things that seemed significant to us. First, the section of the park we were in was designed to be a forest. Some parts were orderly rows of evergreen trees as far as your eye could see… another “forested section” looked like a natural deciduous forest… right in the middle of the most populated city on earth. What an odd feeling... so we took a short walk in the forest… and got lost! The second thing we noticed were groups of men walking with black covered “containers.” ??? What’s in there we asked ourselves??? We found out that they contained birds. It is not uncommon in China for older men to take their pet birds for a walk in the park (in their cages, not on a leash). Once there they cluster together and complement each others bird(s)… I can just imagine the conversation… it must go something like this…

First Man: “Nice bird”
Second Man: “Gee thanks, you got a nice bird too!”
Third Man: “My birds better than your bird! My birds better than yours! My birds better cause he eat kennel ration, my birds better than yours!”

OK, OK, I’m dating myself… but how many of you know the tune?

Next stop… the eyeglass district.

Well, I must say that I was initially not thrilled to be going to this district, even thought I was the one to find the NY Times article about it. We had brought the article just to make sure that we could fid it. But after the fact, I can honestly say, that I was right not to be thrilled. For Jeff, it was a dream comes true… so I was completely supportive, I didn’t snore while he shopped. LOL! But really, it really is not a me thing, but I did end up enjoying the insanity of buying a zillion pairs of glasses. It was a giant super sized mall of just glasses. We spent at least a hour just roaming form place to place… Jeff was trying to be a smart shopper and comparative shop. But finally, it just came down to …. That’s it… “Gotta Shop ! Gotta Shop!” (Sung to the tune of Gotta Dance) I was not buying any glasses for myself, but had fun helping pick out several for Carol, Rich, and Cindy… Then true test came when Jeff had to decide on glasses for himself. With literally hundreds of dozens of frames to choose from… believe it or not … I became his mirror! A quick and truly honest opinion… yes, no, not if you want to maintain any self dignity, maybe, could be, never would I be seen in the same house as you… we went on and on. Finally, he cut it down to about twenty-five pairs of finalists. Then it got difficult. The workers (all four in the shop) were exhausted from the ordeal. They refueled quickly while Jeff began to bargain. In the end he purchased something like 30 pairs of glasses, many with prescriptions. He was told to come back the next day in the AM to pick them up. PS. That would be 2day while I am writing this.

From frames to hutongs: Our next stop was a guided tour of the Hutongs. We had enjoyed the guide from the Great Wall to such an extent we had asked her to be our guide for this tour also. Mostly the tour was a brief history of the hutongs and a ride through it on a pedi-cab (a pedal powered rickshaw.) They were built to house the officials and workers for the Forbidden City. Status was designated by the number of columns you had over the entrance and by the size of the lion and/or drum. The bigger the better! They were built in the traditionally courtyard style. Each one housed one extended family. During the Cultural Revolution each courtyard was divided up among many families… to be more equitable. Recently, they earned themselves a protected status as a historic district. They are presently becoming gentrified, rebuilt, and renovated to historic standards.
After the ride we were heading back to the hotel, and the strangest thing happened to us. There had been a bit of a shortage of cabs when we were leaving the hutongs. Vivian had managed to snag us a cab. It seemed to me that she had to bicker back and forth with him and raised her voice … but it was in Chinese, so how do I know? Anyway, he did take us… but then after driving for about 15 minutes (during which he seemed to be in the mist of a heated argument with someone on his cell phone) He yelled, stopped the cab, got out, walked over to our door, opened it… shouted and gestured that we should get out! We did, but for a moment were a bit taken back. We looked around, and nothing looked quite right to us… but then up there the skyline did look a bit familiar, but gee, well… how ‘bout we just find some hotel, any hotel and they can help us figure out where were are… the nerve of that guy ! Jeff saw a photo shoot for some magazine… a topless Chinese guy surrounded by a few glamour gals... he went to investigate. I found the hotel, and don’t ya know … as the porter turned to point, I noticed our hotel half a block away… boy did I feel dumb.
We had asked for a recommendation for “local food” and were told to have hotpot at a restaurant on the 7th floor of the nearby mall. He said it would be a very authentic Chinese experience. We had to be taught how to prepare the food… a lot like fondue, just with frozen

sliced meats, noodles, and veggies. And the big difference is that it’s boiling water that you cook the food in. A memorable meal. Throughout our stay in Beijing we had walked through the pedestrian mall area several times… this would be the last time we were here. I included a few shots from various places and various days.