Arrived in Beijing and I am still jet lagged, taking too long of naps, but they are so satisfying. Today I had a great time in Bai
He park and also zhonbai park. This is the China that my Chinese teachers are nostaligic for. It is May vacation week, and there are people everywhere. But everyone is in groups, doing something. They do tai ji, with and without the sword, qi gong, fly kites, line dances, draw caligraphy on the sidewalk, chinese yo yo. There was a chinese line dance that puts the macarena to shame, they have one for every song.

Bai he park is not only the chinese dream, but also the dream of the
people's republic. It was a leisure area and temples for the qing
dynasty emperor. But now it is a public park, and you can walk through
the temples, bring your family there, do various chinese pasttimes in
the open spaces. From the large white pagoda, the top of a buddist temple first built in the mid 18th century (i think) to greet the dalia lama on a visit. And as soon as you leave you step into the hutongs, historic one story chinese neighborhoods, some as old as the 6th century. Being here has a perspective of time passing and the comparison between those in the palace and those out of it.

And I bought my first souvi, two decks of cards with
the famous generals and famous emperors thoughout time.

A historic day, I had my first real conversation, sort of with the clerk at the convience store. She was very patient, not many people are with my
pimsuler skills, she asked, I think, if beijing is expensive compared
to the USA. And I told her no, but I like it here. I said I was from
new york (nue yu). And then I bought pears and apples (that's for Yonni and Frayda, you better be reading this).

I ran into my first starbucks. It is actually really nice,
located on a lake park along with many fancy resturants. It started
raining and I waited under the awning. No coffee for me though. I have
to say that there are many more coffee places then starbucks. Not
coffee shops per se, but stands on the side of the road. I don't know
who drinks it though.

Another funny thing, is there arean't many forgieners in my
neighborhood. I've only seen a handful. Beijing is big, and i think
people think it's not cool to stare at the gringo, unlike smaller
laces. It like new york to many you are more anonymous than anything
else. It's better than way. I walked by the forbidden city today,
which is across from the bai he park and I was swarmed with post card
sellers and rickshaw drivers. At first I was happy that some of the
resturants would have engish menus, but in the end, after being
swarmed, it's definitly better to be anaoymous than a tourist.