Paddle Ball, Scorpions and More…

Bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4:50 am, we decided to take advantage of our jet lag and head to Tiananmen Square to watch the early morning ceremonial raising of the flag. Much to our surprise, the square was filled with people. And, I think we were the only westerners. From the flag raining ceremony, we walked to the Temple of Heaven where we were greeted by hundreds of locals doing their morning exercise. Besides being the only westerners, we were probably the youngest people in the park by at least 20 years. Locals were playing badminton, paddle ball, “hacky sack” and more. Yes, 60 year olds were playing hacky sack. When we were approached by a local man to play paddle ball, we accepted and proceeded to create a spectacle of ourselves. It was lots of fun, though, and a great workout too.

We spent the day visiting the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City and the Beijing Zoo with our great guide, Zoe. For the sake of time (we need to head out and watch beach volleyball) I’ll save the details for when we return; but, the Forbidden City was gigantic! At its prime, it had 9,999.5 rooms. You may ask why the half a room? Supposedly the Gods have 10,000 rooms and the emperor is inferior to the Gods and therefore can’t have more rooms than the Gods…

To end the day, we had the pleasure of enjoying a wonderful dinner with Liu Jing and Du Xiao Li. They are local Beijinges and good friends of my mother’s friend, Ling. We had our own room in the restaurant and enjoyed Peking Duck, Beef Tripe, Seasoned Fish Head, Almond Juice and many more local Beijing dishes. It was delicious and Liu Jing and Du Xian Li were so friendly. Afterwards, we stopped by the Donghuamen Snack Market. Stinky tofu dominated the city air. Following through on a commitment, Graeme devoured two fried scorpions. Thankfully he is still alive this morning!

Thanks so much to Ling for introducing us to our new wonderful friends!

We’re off to our first Olympic event!