Summer Palace on a hot and sunny day

We went to the Summer Palace today. It was beautiful and fun to visit but it was very crowded and very hot today. Our guide Cindy was great and speaks good English. We must have been quite interesting as a group. There were people that were staring at us like we had 2 heads and they even wanted to take pictures of us. Very strange experience! Here are some pictures from the day.

This is the group before heading out to the Summer Palace. Mable is our facilitator and is in the pink shirt in the middle of the group.

We rode on one of these boats across the river

 

On the boat

On the boat

Douglas was born in the year of the Ox

Many Chinese children wear split pants without diapers. They start working on potty training early. It is so different seeing little children with their bottoms hanging out!

It is late and I am off to bed! Our guide Cindy told us it would be hotter tomorrow so I think I will get to bed and try to rest up! I appreciate the emails and comments you guys are sending/ making. Getting email has been difficult but it is so fun when I can get it and see emails from you. Thank you!!! We leave for Nanchang on Sunday and will meet Emma Kate around 4 pm China time.

Bird's Nest and the Water Cube

We ventured out to see the Olympic Bird's Nest where the track and field events were held and to the Water Cube where the swimming was for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We were able to go inside of the Bird's Nest and it was really great. We then found a mall that had upscale stores and a department store. We were very tired and trying to get back to the hotel and noone could tell us how far it was. The taxi drivers were trying to charge too much for the taxi ride. I was wondering if we would ever find our way back. A nice taxi driver approached us and gave us a fair price to get back. We made it back just in time to find Douglas, Erica and Katie checking into the hotel. We all went out to dinner tonight. We are tired and ready for a good night's sleep. Here are some pictures from our day.

We also walked around this area that was an outdoor market. It was very crowded and we saw all the different creatures they have that you can eat on a stick. We saw scorpions on a stick and they were still moving. I guess if you wanted to eat one, they would cook it for you but who knows.

That is it for today! Off to bed, we are exhausted.

More pictures!

Okay, so I figured out how to get the pictures off my camera onto the computer so I will post a few more. These are from the flight and from our dinner last night. Hope you enjoy the pictures.