Thursday: Rain, rain, go away

It has been raining for the last couple of days.  This is actually a good thing as it cleaned up the air tremendously.  It is an intermittent rain, mostly light, more on when it is not later.

We woke up later than usual and went to the dumpling shop for breakfast.  We purchased our plane tickets to go to Qingdao on Tuesday.  We then wandered thru the Wangfujing mall area and Tian'anmen before heading over to the Beijing Opera.

Of course, there was no direct subway or bus route to the theatre and we decided to walk.  About 1/3 of the way there, it starts raining pretty hard.  Bill forgot his umbrella, and I had a jacket with a.hood, so it worked out ok.  It seemed we wandered for days!  Especially so because of the rain.  Along the way we wandered down a street with many interesting shops.  Musical instruments, calligraphy needs, paper for calligraphy, cloth, incense, brushes for calligraphy.  Each shop a little jewel.  Too bad it was raining and we were tired or we would have stopped in.

After convoluted online directions, we finally made it to the theatre.  It was in the Qianmen Hotel.  A fading grande dame of yesteryear.  Huge lobby, wide staircases, and this theatre.  It was still raining when we arrived, and we decided that we were not going out in it to find food before the show.  Luckily there was a hotel bar that did make a good perfect Manhattan. Bill's draft beer was a bit skunky but he switched to cans next.

This is a view from the lobby bar to one of the doors to the theatre.

This is one of the performers in the "best of" vignettes that were shown.  As we left the theatre the rain was still coming down.  We had a struggle to find a cab in the rain.  We finally got one,  and got home.

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.

Calmer Days, Bad Colds Waft In

After the hectic CAFL schedule over the weekend, both Bill and I have ended up with a coughing cold.  This was the first weekday of Golden Week here in China.  Golden Week, is sort of line our 4th of July and Thanksgiving all rolled into one.  Businesses close, schools close and every Chinese person heads on holiday....it seems to Beijing!  The streets are teeming, more crowds than I have ever seen in my life.  The crowd moved like a liquid, slipping past obstructions enmass; sinuously streaming down the hutongs toward a larger open plaza. Many Chinese are carrying flags and wearing a heart shaped flag on their cheeks.  Knick-knack sellers are crammed into the tiniest of corners with their wares spread out on the ground before them.  The crowds are orderly and slow moving.  If you were in a hurry, forget it, you needed to get started 30 minutes earlier!    The shopping street near us, Wangfujing, was heaving as well.

The cold front came in, but not the one I was hoping for weather wise.  Both Bill and I have gotten nasty colds with fits of gut wracking coughing.  Bill's seems to be subsiding as mine is kicking into high gear.

We had to change rooms as our Beijing extension took effect and the room we got faces south which means that it is hotter than our other one.  We lost our "drinking water spout" and now have to adopt brushing teeth with bottled water.

We took the day very easy and I tried to keep hydrated and kept to a diet of soups.  Bill was happy for the relaxing day as well because it was a break from the hectic CAFL schedule the 2 previous days.

CAFL Game Day!!!!

The first game was at 3:00, yes,theFIRST game.  Bill and I were given volunteer shirts and were charged with getting a player's mother down to the field level to be interviewed.  It was easy getting up to her, to notify her that we would be back to get her at the appropriate time.  The tricky part was getting back down to field level.  Every entrance or exit was blocked by security staff who would not let us pass.  The trouble was that we did not have credentials or tickets!  Fiona had to rescue us and take us back down to the field level .  We were then given the task of wrangling the players for the first TV shot of the game.  They had to line up in numerical order with helmets on their right hips.  They had to enter the field along the 20 yard line and proceed to the far wall, and then face each other.  

We were given credentials which allowed us to get Mrs. Gray and bring her to the field for her interview.  When we finished that and the interview was completed, Bill escorted Mrs. Gray back to her seat and we just stayed at field level and enjoyed the game,  During the second game, we were again player wranglers and we were interviewed at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Sadly, we had to give up our credentials at the conclusion of the game and had to be escorted into the bldg for Sunday's game.  During that game, Bill got to be Ball Boy.  He was soooo excited and happy.  We were given 2 game balls at the conclusion of the game by one of the refs.

Speaking of refs, there were some really nice people there.  There were 2 female refs, and several (don't know the count) male refs.  They had no problem speaking with us on the side lines and chatting about the game and NYC.  

These are all of the CAFL volunteers.

Ball boy Bill

Players for the Quindao Clippers waiting to line up before the game on Saturday

These 2 photos are of the Shenzhen team that won one of the 2 games played on Saturday

Friday, the Great Wall

There is not much to say about the Great Wall.  It is really impressive, more massive than I had even imagined.  We took a tour that included some add one of Jade Market, Ming Tombs, Chinese traditional medicine, lunch, and a drive by of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube.  I'm just going to upload a ton of photos to do the "talking".

 Out "Personalized" We climbed the Wall medals

 Photo bombing little cow

 These shots are of the Ming Tombs, below

Thursday Press Conference

We were invited by Fiona to go to the press conference for the launch of the CAFL.  It was held in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Doubletree Hotel.

We arrived early, and were able to help Fiona make press packets.  Who knew that the collating skills of teachers would come in handy.  She was amazed that we put them together so quickly.!  On the dais was Marty Judge, Chinese Minister for Sport, Ron Jawarsky, Clint Dolezel, David Niu, Eddie Wong, and Gary Morris.  Moderating the event was Lou Tilly and Mr.Wu.

Each person on the dais got up to speak, except for Gary Morris.  The picture above is Clint Dolezel. To his right is Lou Tilly and Mr. Wu.  The most dynamic speaker was Jaws.  He got the crowd thumping.  Afterwards we met Alvina Alston, who is a publisist and is doing double duty on game day.  Here she is with Fiona.

 Another thing they did was to have the players model the uniforms for each team.  This is JJ Ratarink wearing Shenzhen's uniform.  This caused a bit of confusion for Bill and I because we knew that he didn't play for Shenzhen.  He joked with Lou Tilly that he had been traded already.

The most spectacular faux pas of the day goes to Lou Tilly, when he said over the live mike, "Come on girls shake your Pom-poms and I'm not talking about those things in your hands".  Bill and I were stunned that he said that.  No one else in the room seemed to think that anything was off about the comment.  We've been PC'd!!

After going to the press conference, we wandered over to a mall, they are everywhere, and found a Dairy Queen.  

After our Blizzards, we got on the #5 bus and ended up going to a local restaurant and Bill tried a local delicacy donkey.  He ordered donkey meat platter, and it was a cold sliced meat plate.  

Wednesday....Adventures in eating and entertainment

We decided to explore the area south of Tian'anmen and found the Police Museum along the way.  It was a 4 floor exhibit with all sorts of paraphernalia related to police work; from the Qing and Ming dynasties to present day.  There was also a memorial wall to the policemen that had been killed in the line of duty.  Unfortunately, there was no English translation for the situations in which these 8 men perished.  What interested us both is where there was an English translation and where there was only Chinese.  We can't be sure, but it seemed that when bad things happened after 1949 then there was no English translation, but again, we are not absolutely sure of that.

One thing for sure was that we are glad we didn't live during the dynasties, as corporal punishment was brutal and definitely not swift.  They had photos, particularly graphic ones, of means of dispatching of criminals.  Slow slicing, the photo is of a prisoner bound hand and foot, having parts of this torso and legs slowly sliced off, I would imagine that exsanguination would happen very slowly and thus very painful.   Yikes!

After this we found the Railway Museum a short way away.  What was interesting was that this museum housed in a former railway station, was more static and less engaging than the Police and Museum.  The bes exhibit was in the basement where they had "sand tables" of the routes that certain trains take over China.  For one, the route from Beijing to Shanghai, was accompanied by a movie which showed the train moving along its route and pulling into many of the architecturally striking stations.

After this we wandered down the street going east, and found the alley that led to Li Qun, and instead of going right, we went left.  We found a residential area that had many restaurants and we narrowed it down to 2, a spicy one, and a Brazilian one.  We choose the Brazilian one and what a find!

It was an all you can eat chiascurria with an appetizer and dessert bar.  But the best, and I mean the best, was that there was a "floor show" with dancers for entertainment.  And all of this for 98 yuan, or less than $15!  Also, beers were 8 yuan, just over $1. Needless to say, we found ourselves quite "happy" and I got pulled up into the floor show!  It was a hoot.  We toddled on home and had a good sleep.

I am trying to add embarrassing photos of me dancing, but am having trouble getting them to add them to the blog.  It seems the platform only has a couple of choices and I have not figured out how to get things into those choices easily.