As I write this, we’re lying low at an eco resort in southern China having undoubtedly one of our very best experiences of the last five months. When we arrived here on Sunday (Father’s Day) we spent a couple of hours lazily floating down the Yu Long (Dragon) River on two bamboo rafts… gently dipping over occasional baby waterfalls… and spotting water buffalo bathing near the shoreline. That was all I needed to say: Goodbye Beijing. Hello rest of this big glorious non-urban, non-polluted world. But I can’t find the camera cord so postings of this trip will wait until we’re back in Beijing (we have to return for one last week of packing up… otherwise I would sign us up for another week here)…
For now, in keeping with the theme that everything I post at this point is out of order anyway, here’s another wrap up from the end of May when our friends Mary Kaye, Bob and their daughter Nina came up from Chengdu for their last whirl through Beijing. We were lucky to share two days with them, and packed it in: Lama Temple, Confucian Temple, hutong exploring, Peking Duck dinner, Chinese acrobats, one last trip to the Summer Palace, swimming for the kids. Hard to believe we’ve kept up this pace for as long as we have.
Our last temple visit in China...
They've grown so much...
Thank you for this time...
If this tree could talk...
Where the monks of this Tibetan monestary work....
I would like to be the monk who sits on this end of the long table... and gets to bang the drum...
Just a box of rain...
Pretty girls...
Whispering girls...
Gathering in the hutong...
Street games...
Elle get a bird's eye view...
At the Confucian Temple, I am (again) in love with the red lacquer...
China's greatest philosopher...
Elle…
Inside the "Temple of Confucius" hall, are a number of pairs of these alabaster goats and pigs...
I have the kids spotting these "special tiles "old walls all over Beijing...
Beijing has endless walls to walk alongside...
Ice cream break...
I continue to be drawn to doors...
The international language of Girl is alive and well in Beijing...
As is the international language of Hip...
Pit stop...
There are 4 or 5 Peking Duck restaurants in Beijing vying for the title of Best. On this day we went to Da Dong. Next week, we'll join Shemei and family at Quan Ju De...
Les canards...
The kitchen...
Sauteed lotus petals (love these!). Once the duck arrived I was too consumed in the ceremony surrounding the meal to document it, so you just have to take my word (or Cece's; she loves Peking duck) that it's a culinary delight not to be missed in Beijing...
The Chinese acrobat show was exhilarating! We'd been to the same theater in 2005, and forgot how amazing they are. A "must" if you have kids...
Painting poetry with water; early morning at the Summer Palace...
Another "must" if you have kids...
Painted names...
And fanning out in the park...
Given how often we're in a taxi, it was inevitable that one day our taxi would pull into a gas station. For the record, gas stations are full service, and on this day, gas was 7.52RMB per liter. That's about $1.16UDS for just under 1/4 gallon. Seems about right given what I'm hearing re: California gas prices...
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