Today we walked to the bank again. It took an hour to walk in, take a number, wait to be called and exchange the travelers’ checks and cash. I still am not sure what the best method bringing money over here is. We had breakfast at McDonalds. While I was in the bank the others walked to the river and found an outdoor exercise place. They are all over in Beijing .
We then took a taxi to Tiananmen Square. It was very big and full of people. We walked over to one end to take the Mao picture then over to one side so Dad, David and Sam could get in the line for Mao’s tomb. Mom and I stayed outside with the bags. They do not allow bags or cameras in there. Then we walked to the other side to meet them. Along the way we were approached by several women selling things. We did stop to buy the cute Olympic ornaments. I think we were really ripped off, but it was still cheep. One woman sold us one package for 100 yuan, then a man sold us a whole bag full of all different ones for 100 yuan. I wonder if he felt bad for the other woman ripping us off. I saw him talking to her. I am not very good at the bargaining thing at all. We met the boys at the other side and then we gave them the bags and we went through. It is really fast. You just walk through and don’t stop, it takes only a few minutes. Now we can say we did it. Next was lunch.
Sam was having trouble with his pants, don’t ask me what. So on our way to find lunch, Peking Duck, we stopped and got him new pants. We walked down a really neat Hutong. The lunch was not as good as other meals and the Peking Duck was very disappointing. They bring EVERY part of the duck out in various forms. There are bones with little meat and the skin and fat they batter and fry, there was this soup of skin, fat, bones and who know what in a broth that looked like dirty dish water. Then were was the breast meat, sliced really thin on a serving dish shaped like a duck. It came with fixings for a wrap of some sort. It was very disappointing, maybe it was just that restaurant. Maybe it is like fish fry, everyone does it, but only certain ones do it well. The rest of the meal was very good, there was sweat sour pork and beef noodle soup. I am so in love with that dish. We also have been ordering this cold spinach and peanut dish that is very yummy, it has garlic in it too, but not too much that I don’t like it. Oh, speaking of garlic, I thought of Rebecca last night, there were huge, whole cloves of garlic in the soup. I passed on them.
Outside the restaurant there were some people playing hackysac, but with a feathered shuttlecock type thing. Sam and David went out to join them as we finished the meal and paid the bill. They really enjoyed playing with Sam and David and thought Sam was so funny. When we left we gave them some jelly bellys and some post cards of Milwaukee. They seemed to like them too. Who knows what they are saying though. Then I got my North Face knock off jacket for $15, Sam bought is own shuttle cock/hackysac and we took in the local sights.
Tonight we saw the Martial Arts show. Mom, Dad and I slept through it, Sam loved it, and David enjoyed watching it with Sam. It was just for tourists
We then took a taxi to Tiananmen Square. It was very big and full of people. We walked over to one end to take the Mao picture then over to one side so Dad, David and Sam could get in the line for Mao’s tomb. Mom and I stayed outside with the bags. They do not allow bags or cameras in there. Then we walked to the other side to meet them. Along the way we were approached by several women selling things. We did stop to buy the cute Olympic ornaments. I think we were really ripped off, but it was still cheep. One woman sold us one package for 100 yuan, then a man sold us a whole bag full of all different ones for 100 yuan. I wonder if he felt bad for the other woman ripping us off. I saw him talking to her. I am not very good at the bargaining thing at all. We met the boys at the other side and then we gave them the bags and we went through. It is really fast. You just walk through and don’t stop, it takes only a few minutes. Now we can say we did it. Next was lunch.
Sam was having trouble with his pants, don’t ask me what. So on our way to find lunch, Peking Duck, we stopped and got him new pants. We walked down a really neat Hutong. The lunch was not as good as other meals and the Peking Duck was very disappointing. They bring EVERY part of the duck out in various forms. There are bones with little meat and the skin and fat they batter and fry, there was this soup of skin, fat, bones and who know what in a broth that looked like dirty dish water. Then were was the breast meat, sliced really thin on a serving dish shaped like a duck. It came with fixings for a wrap of some sort. It was very disappointing, maybe it was just that restaurant. Maybe it is like fish fry, everyone does it, but only certain ones do it well. The rest of the meal was very good, there was sweat sour pork and beef noodle soup. I am so in love with that dish. We also have been ordering this cold spinach and peanut dish that is very yummy, it has garlic in it too, but not too much that I don’t like it. Oh, speaking of garlic, I thought of Rebecca last night, there were huge, whole cloves of garlic in the soup. I passed on them.
Outside the restaurant there were some people playing hackysac, but with a feathered shuttlecock type thing. Sam and David went out to join them as we finished the meal and paid the bill. They really enjoyed playing with Sam and David and thought Sam was so funny. When we left we gave them some jelly bellys and some post cards of Milwaukee. They seemed to like them too. Who knows what they are saying though. Then I got my North Face knock off jacket for $15, Sam bought is own shuttle cock/hackysac and we took in the local sights.
Tonight we saw the Martial Arts show. Mom, Dad and I slept through it, Sam loved it, and David enjoyed watching it with Sam. It was just for tourists
Posts
1 comment:
Great to hear of your exploits in Beijing! I remember the hill behind the Forbidden City too, and Tiananmen Square. But it sounds way more touristy now than it was in 1985. I love the comparison of Peking Duck to fish fry (everyone does it, but only some do it well)--hilarious! We're thinking of you and praying for you as you near Nanjing and Elizabeth.
Steve HK
Post a Comment