Tom and Lucy came bearing gifts from Hawaii, so we spent our mornings drinking Kona coffee and our evenings finishing off dinner with Meri Macs and other Macadamia-Chocolate treats. During the in-between we ventured into the bustling Mid-Autumn Festival crowds and took in a fair share of Beijing life. Joanne and the boys were off from school for the holiday so we had the chance to spend a lot of quality time with grandpa Tom and grandma Lucy.
It is easy to see why so many folks venture from all over China to the Capital during the October break; the weather was spectacular the whole week, and we enjoyed the lowest AQI readings I have seen in our time here. We hiked the Wall at Mutianyu and purchased dried fruit and nuts along with a few trinkets in "the gauntlet" - a long row of shops where aggressive proprietors try to separate tourists from their crisp stacks of red Maos. We once learned from friends and since pass on to our guests that whatever price she offers when you ask, "duō shou qián?" expect that 10 percent is probably a fair compromise.
We do our best to apply similar principle at the other markets around town and we had our practice while visiting quite a few shops with Tom and Lucy. We shopped for clothes, beads and video games in Sanlitun, purses at the Silk Market and sunglasses and shoes in Sunny Gold. Tom, Lucy and I walked out of the Hong Qiao Pearl Market with new perscription glasses for 300 rmb a piece - the discussion started at 1200.
Joined by our good friends Ravi and Poornima, and their children Reah and Karan, we took a climb to the top of the Summer palace stopping along the way for an ice cream or a cold drink, to blow bubbles, or just to take in the fantastic views of the lake and grounds. We often had to prod the boys along as they stopped to play "Ninja" - a turn-based, karate chopping variation of Rochambeau which draws quite a crowd of Chinese onlookers. Of course, we had the occasional, and now normal, stop so that Bennett or Devon could pose in a "peace sign" photo with someone who was amazed at the sight of our blondies.
We spent a fabulous night at the Grand Hyatt and walked Wangfujing pedestrian street North to the Night Market - anything to eat on a stick. Starfish, bull testicles, snakes, scorpions, beetles, candied fruit - yep, we chose that one.
Then next morning we waded though the biggest crowds of the week and saw Tien An Men and The Forbidden City stopping only to have a roast duck for lunch before heading back to our home in River Gardens.
On Friday we delivered Tom and Lucy back to Terminal 2, just 6 days after their arrival, and a day later returned to the airport to pick up our next visitors, Meemaw and Pop Pop. Vacation over, the boys resumed school at ISB this week, baseball cranked back up, and Meemaw, Pop Pop and I took in a little sightseeing of our own. We are, nonetheless, going to try to take one last advantage of the Mid-Autumn holiday by traveling Guilin the week after the holiday, hopefully the weather stays great, but the crowds have all gone back to their places.
Thanks for coming Tom and Lucy, thanks for coming Meemaw and Pop Pop. We love sharing this journey!
Sent from the iPad of
Paul R. Koch
http://dugahole.blogspot.com/
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