The Locals

My favorite parts of the whole trip all happened by total random circumstances.

1. Jump rope: On Sunday morning we walked through Jingshan Park before heading into the Forbidden City. It was meant to be a quick walk through, but we ended up spending quite of bit of time bonding with the locals playing in the park. A hacky sack type game is widely played with a birdie made of feathers and coins. There was also a group jumping rope. Mostly adults, one woman managed to tell us she is 70.

2. After we got back from the wall we were looking for something to kill time in the afternoon. We had plans to get a quick coffee and then head to Olympic park, but ended up sliding around on an old desk chair on rails along with 1,000 other people for a couple of hours.

3. One different turn in our hood and we ended up on in an alleyway full of kitschy souvenir shops. We stopped in one and ended up with a full out tea tasting in the back. Tried some amazing tea traditionally brewed right in front of our eyes. Great times!

I would say that these are really the things I will remember most about this trip. I overheard so many people in our hostel and on our flight that talked about how they ventured out to certain tourist sights only to find that they were closed at odd hours due to the holiday. I think our experience was far superior.

Also, almost 1,500 pictures were taken in 4 days amongst 3 cameras. I was able to get it down to just under 1,000 still on my computer. I posted only 210 of my favorites for you to look through. Good luck.