Beijing--Tuesday

Todd went to the gym. I showered and Cameron still wasn't up. I was beginning to worry the food might have killed him from the night before. Yes, I checked on him. Finally at 8:25 he got up. First thing he said was "Sharla is my new best friend". What a goof. Went to breakfast then waited for Mr. Xue to pick us up at 10:00.  Cameron read while waiting.

He reads in the weirdest positions.

Sunny, warm day outside. First stop was Beihai Park. Millions of people everywhere. Got our tickets and ventured in. It's pretty neat. We went out to the island so we could see the White Dagoba. The White Dagoba is where the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty agreed to build such a Tibetan dagoba to show his belief in Buddhism and his desire for the unification among various Chinese ethnic groups. The White Dagoba was destroyed in an earthquake and reconstructed twice.   For an extra 3 rmb (48 cents or so) each we could go higher to get a better view. Kind of cool.

Checking out the map.

White Dagoba.

Beginning our journey at the park.

Cameron always tries to mock the statues.

Working our way to the top.

Enjoying the park.

Up at the top and overlooking the city.

The blossoms are popping on the trees.

We continued walking and found a cave. For an extra 15 rmb ($2.38) we went in. Slippery steps but kind of neat. There were all kinds of figures through out the cave. Back outside we were by the lake that had tons of boats...paddle, motor, etc. We worked our way back to the entrance and found our driver.

Entering the cave.

Inside the cave.

One of the figures inside the cave.

Cameron is part of this exhibit.

A ton of people were enjoying the boats.

This packed boat was headed to the other side of the park.

We came across this dance troop.  They sure seemed happy.

All the things you can't do inside the park.  Funny.

Next stop was Qianmen Diajie. We went to McDonald's so we could use the bathroom then headed out. Qianmen is an old shopping street that has been redone. Tons of side streets with more shops. There was a Super 8 so we are thinking about putting mom and Aunt Sharon there next week when they come. We walked around for awhile then went back to the van.

This poor lady kept hanging her head out the window and puking. 

Qianmen Diajie.

That is apples on a stick.  Looks yummy.

Off in the distance you can see the Super 8.

Leaving Qianmen Diajie.

Next stop was finding Brennamen Tang's toy store. It was suppose to have all kinds of old hand made toys. We found the street and walked to find stall 38. Todd recognized the statue out front from the magazine ad. Yay, we found it. Boo, it was empty. The ad was from December. In April it was gone after a ton of years. Just our luck. We continued to walk and we went down a hutong. This is where people's "houses" are. We made our way back to where we started and got back in the van. Back to the hotel.

Outside the once famous toy store.

At 5:00 Mr. Xue picked us up to go to Chefs Too for dinner. Cameron ordered a rack of ribs, Todd got steak, and I got BBQ chicken. Todd and I shared. When the guy brought out the ribs he asked who ordered them. We pointed to Cameron and he said "wow" with big eyes. They watched him eat them all in amazement. Great dinner choice.

Our new family...Mr. Xue bought a new hat.

Yummy place to eat.

Cameron and his rack of ribs.

All of our good food.

He is all about ribs. 

Back to the hotel. Made a quick stop in the lounge then back to the room. We watched
Johnny English Returns. Funny but very dumb movie. Off to sleep.