The Lama temple (s) are over 400 years old. The work on these buildings are so well preserved.
After the temple we had time to just walk around Beijing. Hannah and ben thought this was the coolest!
Gail and Ken, and Tracy--Herb shot this picture for you - this is where we had hot pot 10 years ago!!
We had a chance to do some shopping around the old markets.
Nancy told us this was the Buddah of "taking away bad dreams" Ben took this very seriously and was quite taken that there was a Buddah for this.
Ben and Hannah really got into the incense/prayer ritual. I'm not sure if they were praying for more DS games or what, but they definetely made the most of the experience.
These are live scorpians and seahorses that were getting ready to be stir fried in deep oil. No, we didn't try them. we all have to have our limits, and the line was drawn right here!
Hannah and I enjoyed the shopping in the markets and negotiated like crazy for $2 fans. It was great fun.
So being back in Beijing after eight yearss was quite a shock. It is really like a different city in many ways. There are extensive numbers of new buildings, paved roads, monuments, Starbucks, trash cans. We saw less people spitting on the streets, less beggars, and an incredible amount more upscale stores - from every high end car dealership to all the big brand name shops. They tore down all of the little neighborhoods, and have put up parks, condos and many trash cans. But it seems faux to me. All of the buildings that have been built in the past five or six years seem to already look worn, as it if they were built fast, but no one is maintaining them and I believe if they don't get some good property managers in this city soon, these buildings are going to be in shambles. For my collegue property managers, it would break your heart to see all the tile paved sidewalks and roads, that you know has only been installed for a few years, but you should see how much of it is already breaking up, and looks like it hasn't been cleaned in months, it is really pitiful.
After the temple we had time to just walk around Beijing. Hannah and ben thought this was the coolest!
Gail and Ken, and Tracy--Herb shot this picture for you - this is where we had hot pot 10 years ago!!
We had a chance to do some shopping around the old markets.
Nancy told us this was the Buddah of "taking away bad dreams" Ben took this very seriously and was quite taken that there was a Buddah for this.Ben and Hannah really got into the incense/prayer ritual. I'm not sure if they were praying for more DS games or what, but they definetely made the most of the experience.
These are live scorpians and seahorses that were getting ready to be stir fried in deep oil. No, we didn't try them. we all have to have our limits, and the line was drawn right here!
Hannah and I enjoyed the shopping in the markets and negotiated like crazy for $2 fans. It was great fun.
So being back in Beijing after eight yearss was quite a shock. It is really like a different city in many ways. There are extensive numbers of new buildings, paved roads, monuments, Starbucks, trash cans. We saw less people spitting on the streets, less beggars, and an incredible amount more upscale stores - from every high end car dealership to all the big brand name shops. They tore down all of the little neighborhoods, and have put up parks, condos and many trash cans. But it seems faux to me. All of the buildings that have been built in the past five or six years seem to already look worn, as it if they were built fast, but no one is maintaining them and I believe if they don't get some good property managers in this city soon, these buildings are going to be in shambles. For my collegue property managers, it would break your heart to see all the tile paved sidewalks and roads, that you know has only been installed for a few years, but you should see how much of it is already breaking up, and looks like it hasn't been cleaned in months, it is really pitiful.
The smog is horrible, and after walking around for the day, we all felt fiilthy. As much as I want to, I just can't get my arms around this city (hard with 17 M people) and embrace it. I just don't "love" it. We are on this trip to share our children's culture with them, learn more ourselves. However, I can't feel passion as I have for other places I have visited and fallen in love with -- I hope as we visit a number of cities we have never seen, we will find either passion or appreciation for new sites.
We finished our day having dinner at a small restaurant near the hotel. we were all pretty tired and got back to the hotel at a reasonable hour.
I would like to stay up and write more about today which included climbing the Great Wall in the rain and fog, going to the jade factory (let me interpret here - the government run jade stores), lunch, a cloisenet factory (same government run store) and a fun Peking Duck dinner...with a very lovely surprise birthday cake for Ben....but I am too tired and it will have to wait till tomorrow. We have heard the heat wave in DC and other areas is horrible - hope it breaks soon. Good night!
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