Ellen & Victor's Visit to Beijing
10 great days of fellowship, reconnecting, walking, catching up, eating, conversing, sightseeing, walking, resting, eating, sightseeing, meeting BBC people - did I mention walking?
Tuesday, March 25 |
| Fresh off the plane. Nothing like a good cup of coffee. Wednesday, March 26
Mark & I went to language class Wednesday morning and let Victor & Ellen relax after their flight. They relaxed by walking through the Olympic Forest Park, around our stomping grounds, through the apartment complex grounds, and to the subway. After we returned, we all met Kyle & the Andersens for lunch then met up with Phil Remmer (more on him later), walked Ghost Street and its hutongs, ran into Jeremiah (more on him later), and finished the day with dinner at a local Korean restaurant.
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| Checking out Hua's Restaurant menu on Ghost Street Thursday, March 27 The Great Wall |
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| The worst AQI day of their trip, as high as 400. |
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| Visiting the Yips after the Great Wall. Having fun with Owen & Elise. |
Friday, March 28
Summer Palace
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| A beautiful clear day. |
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| The Long Corridor |
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| Our ride back to the subway station BBC Young Couple's Dinner
After the Summer Palace, we met with the BBC young couples for dinner at one of their apartments.
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| Hector, Bessie, Jared, Molly, Mary, Joel, Steven, Amanda, Nate, Julia |
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| Nate, Julia, Ellen, Victor, Mark.
I don't remember what we were discussing at this moment but we had a great time together talking about all kinds of things. At one point someone started a 'newlywed' type of questioning - how do you think your spouse would respond to .....[question].
Saturday, we visited Fangshan Orphanage. That trip deserves its own post.
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Sunday, March 30
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| Trees in bloom at the south gate into our apartment complex. |
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| Dinner with Rupert at Hua's Restaurant on Ghost Street on Sunday evening. |
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| The front of Hua's Restaurant on Ghost Street. We entered through the back hutong alley. Monday, March 31 Hou Hai Park
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| Drum Tower performers.
I opted out of this climb and instead sat and talked with a UK foreign exchange student visiting from Shanghai.
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| We had a few hours between walking Hou Hai and the hutongs and meeting some of the young single BBC gals for dinner so we discovered this place with a rooftop sitting area. How good it felt to sit on the cushioned seats, talk, relax, have a refreshing drink, and look over the area from up high. |
Dinner with some of the single BBC gals.
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| Victor, Ellen, Kelly, Christi, Vawny Kay, Juli, Rebecca, Mark |
Tuesday, April 1
A restful morning, then Wangfujing Street & Tiananmen Square
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| A quintessential tourist - eating scorpions on a stick on April Fool's Day |
Wednesday, April 2
Hotpot lunch, a restful afternoon, and the Olympic venues at night
Thursday, April 3
Saying good-bye or better Zaijian 再见 (See you later)
