Tuesday: Chinese Medicine. Wednesday: Olympic Park

After trying to sleep with a wracking cough, we decided that we should get some medication of some sort.  We went to a Chinese pharmacy that was just down the street and the woman could not have been nicer.  She asked what kind of cough it was, was it wet or dry, and some other kind of gross questions and then suggested a particular type of Chinese medicine. The was no English on the box, so I used google translate to read the ingredients and instructions.  There was nothing in it that would be harmful to me, so I bought it along with a small supply of ibuprofen.

The ibuprofen was ridiculously expensive compared to NYC where you can get 50 tabs for $1.00 in a 99 cent store, the package of 12 tablets was around $3. We have been here long enough to do double takes when the price in yuan seems too high to not be a rip off.

The pills worked amazingly.  I was told to take 2 at a time and take 3 times a day, so every 8 hours or so.  They stop the cough in its tracks and have cleared my stuffed sinuses as well as cleared up my clogged lungs!

Here is a photo of the packaging!  Using the translation app, it is for clearing up coughs, helpful to asthmatics.  Not for children or lactating women!

After getting this we went to the APM mall and found a Korean place where we had a late lunch.

This was Bill's dish seafood pancake, which was much more like a seafood omelet it wasn't bad, but more eggy than we were used to

I had a spicy pork dish with some tofu on the side.  It was quite good.  I enjoyed the barley tea that was served with the meal.  It soothed my throat, which was aching from coughing so much.

Here is Bill while we await our food.  Note that we did not get Korean BBQ, I just wasn't in the mood for it.  

I was still feeling pretty bad, so I headed back to the hotel and made an early night of it.   Or intended to do that!  Often I get caught up in what is on CNN or in trying to get photos to load and then I get either annoyed (CNN) or frustrated (photos) and can't sleep!

Wednesday

I was feeling better and we decided that 2 days hanging around the hotel was enough.  Bill suggested Olympic Park.  We noticed on the subway map that the line at the north of the Forbidden City ran to the Park.  We boarded an 82 bus and met a lovely Chinese couple who were living out by the park and told us to stay on the 82 because it went right to the park.  They were well travelled and had excellent English.  We discussed many of the sites around Beijing as well as NYC.  They thought we were very brave to take the bus without knowing any Chinese!  We explained that it is an adventure that we enjoy.  

After about 40 minutes or so we arrived at the Olympic Park stop and got off the bus.  Right in front of us was the iconic Water Cube.  It was not lit up and was showing its age. Many of the touristic sites in Beijing were looking pretty tired.  They were covered in a gray soot and looked like a strong power wash would really spiff them up.  

 The above photo is of the Olympic pool where a swim meet for kids was happening.  Below is the diving pool

After visiting the Water Cube, we had some lunch at a small place called Kung Fu.  It is a fast food place, but not like American fast food.  The food was good, not fried, and came with a cup of bone broth that was very tasty.  We left the Water Cube and went across the street to the Bird's Nest. This really needed a good power wash.  The light fixtures in the stadium were covered in a brown film as were any Windows.  The structure is beautiful.  The striking exterior from the inside is less interesting.  There is however, a skywalk which is. A platform at the very top of the stadium which came with our VIP tickets.

 Here is the exterior of the Bird's Nest.  Even the lights at the walkway look like the stadium!

 This is along the sky walk as you climb up to the viewing platform.  We waited in a long line for about an hour before getting our chance to go up in an an elevator.

There was a sound check for an up coming concert going on while we were up there.  You can see that it it is getting closer to dusk.  And dusk is when the park gets really beautiful.

 This building below was designed to resemble the 5 rings of the Olympic symbol.  It is reflected here in a lake (man made) .  The lights changed colors and flashed as did all of the buildings in Olympic Park.  So it was magical after dark!

The next adventure was trying to figure out and find the bus stop to return.  After wandering around the outside of the Park, we were able to catch the 82 bus ahead of the crowd and thus get a seat for the 40 minute ride back to our hotel.