beijing: parks + markets

on sunday, we went to church and ran into old friends of my parents who work for the embassy. they kindly invited us for dinner and gave us tips for our sightseeing. that night, we went to check out olympic park too. summer 2008 was defined by michael phelps's race agenda for us. back when life was simple, we scheduled our days around the olympics, so we had to see it all for real.

lots of people milling around, smoggy skies, and terrible iphone quality...but we were there!

we spent monday morning at beihai park before nate went to work. it used to be the emperor's private garden and lake, but now it's like beijing's central park--complete with paddle boats and elderly chinese practicing tai chi, waltzing, worshiping, ribbon dancing, jazzercise, and singing "material girl" off-key.

we hiked up the stairs to the top of the hill overlooking the park and the forbidden city. the sleepy temples and quiet worship made it so peaceful.

 

unfortunately, it took us 45 minutes to finally get a cab driver who could understand our gestures and who would actually let us get in! so frustrating. it ruined our other morning plans, but we loved beihai.

we spent a good chunk of time at the hectic silk market haggling for cheap prices. we have a pretty good system...i tell nate what i'd like and the top price i'll pay for it, then i walk away and let him haggle. works like a charm. 

the subway was crazy at night. the trains were so full, we literally had to throw our bodies into the crowd and hope the doors didn't close on us. probably not the best choice with a baby, but we made it to the wangfujing night market to see these beauties...

skewered scorpions, anyone?

we didn't try the snake meat either

  i feel like we got a good look at the juxtaposition of china...the beautiful parks and temples full of culture next to the dirty, smelly, teeming markets of insects on a stick.