Beijing: Markets and Temple of Heaven

We haggled. I've haggled in Mexico but the Chinese markets in Beijing have taken haggling to a whole new level. My list of things to buy in China included pearls, silk robes and scarfs, a purse or two, make up brushes, and a Chairman Mao wrist watch for Noah.

I got it all (and then some) but only after bartering down a price that was inflated nearly 300% of what it should have been. At first it was an emotional drawn out process but after a while I figured out the game and smiled and had fun. Unfortunately, that is an expensive way to have fun.

Temple of Heaven

This was my most favorite thing I did (besides the Great Wall) in China. Sara and I left the hotel at 6:30 AM in a taxi ( taxis were cheap - a 15 minute ride was about $2) and entered the park at 7:00 AM. There were retired people everyplace singing and dancing and exercising. We walked around the park for 2 hours watching people and even joining in with them as they exercise, did tai chi, and danced. I taped lots of people doing cool stuff. All these videos are short.

Play instruments:


Dance:


Playing Hacky (yes, I bought them for 21 cents each and brought them home - the boys love them) Now remember folks, all the people in these videos are at least 55 years old:


Dance Traditional Style:


But my most favorite was the singing. We could hear singing all over the park, lots of people in a group - a choir. So we followed the singing until we found them:

They are singing songs from the Beijing Opera. They are passionate about this. I went and stood right in the middle of the women (men on one side, women on the other) so I could get the full effect. One group sang so beautifully (not the one I taped) that it brought tears to my eyes.

I'm telling ya, Beijing is the place to retire. These people know how to do it right.  We came upon a big 9:00 AM dance:


People asked if they could take pictures with us:

You would not believe the amount of giggling that was happening during this picture. It was fun! I was flattered that they all wanted to be seen with me. My moment of celebrity. What's up with the peace signs?

 

 This man (we saw a woman doing this too) was doing a exaggerated slow bear walk with his leg totally straight. This must be an extreme form of yoga. His back was very muscled.

If you want to use the bathroom call it a toilet or they don't understand. Unless I was at our hotel or in a fancy resturant, this is what the ladies' toilet looked like. Not too bad.

Oh and the Temple of Heaven

This awesome park surrounds the Temple of Heaven, a complex built in 1406 for the purpose of praying for a good harvest and offering some sacrifices to guarantee success. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (bringing my total UNESCO Visit tally up to 15 sites! Woohoo!). It was a stunning temple.

 

 

 

 

 

 It was a good day. Afterwards we walked to a noodle house and gorged and then over to the Pearl Market to haggle some more. I'd go back in a heartbeat.