7/20 Beijing Zoo and the Pearl Market

We grab a taxi in the morning and head to the zoo to see the pandas. What could be better? Ugh...it is so hot and crowded. I have to fight to get to the ticket window and the locals just push their way in front of me. Inside the zoo, there are so many people, we cannot see the animals. Luckily, the pandas are in the trees, so no one was blocking the view.

We wander around the zoo a bit and buy some ice cream. Mr. Yung had told us that the subway was "easy," so we try it out. We buy tickets in the machine...I couldnt find the button but some impatient teenager steps in and presses it for me. I ask a friendly face about getting on the subway and she follows us on. When the doors open, she tries to tell me to get off, but I show her my map and she rides with us until our stop. We wave good-bye and she smiles. I am not sure what she was thinking, but I was very grateful to have her as our guardian angel.

I wish she was with us at the Pearl Market. We thought we would do some more shopping, but the vendors here are so pushy, I just want to leave. The vendors behind the counters gave me personal space and time to consider the purchase. The other vendors, though, grab at me and hold onto the kids. I am not doing any more shopping.

This picture is from the top of the footbridge. Crossing streets in China is quite an experience. I remember in Dalian when I went to cross and Cathy grabbed me and yelled, "don't die." The cars do not stop for the pedistrains, you are to stop in the middle and let the cars pass. We always made sure that we waited for a local to cross, and we attached ourselves to them. The traffic, both cars and people, just seem to flow. There is no rushing, no speeding, but a constant movement, and you must follow the flow, or you cause issues.

7/21 Drum and Bell Towers, Exploring the Hutongs

The driver pulls over at what looks like a bus stop where a young woman is standing. We learn her name is Mary and she will be our guide to visit a hutong, or traditional Chinese courtyard neighborhoods. We start at the Bell and Drum towers. She tells us that no one knows how the bell got inside because it is bigger than the gate. Perhaps the building was built around the bell, she suggests.

We turn to the building across from the bell tower which is the drum tower. Both towers were used to let the city people know what time it was during the dynasties. There were no clocks, so everyone listened for the bell or the drums. Inside the drum tower we climb 65 stairs to the second floor and see a room filled with huge drums. The performance will start soon, but we have time to look outside. We view the street that splits east and west, with the Forbidden City in the distance. We will explore the courtyards after the performance. We enjoy the drum performance and my breath is taken away as I feel the energy the men use to beat the drums. A small crowd has developed and we all clap.

We head down the same steep staircase that we ascended earlier and begin our walk to Pipe Street. We visit small shops where the vendors are more subtle than the Pearl Market from yesterday. We decide to buy ice cream bars, but pass on the other trinkets offered. The area reminds me of the RiverWalk in Texas and I snap a quick photo.

We continue on through to the courtyards and Mary shows us the beams outside each entrance which signifies the rich family, the government officials, the prince and the emperor. The first family we visit is rich and we sit for a little while and rest. They do not come in the living room to talk with us, they have visitors in the kitchen. Nicholas spots the xbox and is very impressed. Mary tells us that their son works in Canada and shows us a picture. She asks about our house in America. We tell her we have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. She is very impressed since many of the courtyard homes do not have bathrooms because there is no room. There are public bathrooms and they pay for showers. We thank the family and continue down the alley.

We pass men working on the homes, bricklaying, sawing, moving dirt. We meet the rickshaw drivers and are immediately surrounded by vendors trying to sell us fans and postcards. We buy two fans for 10rmb each and climb into the rickshaw. Mary and Nick in one, and Ella and I in the other. We ride through the crowds and through the streets. I am thankful that we do not hit anyone or anything.
We visit the next family, a retired school teacher and her husband who is an artist. They are watching their grandson who is eight months old. He is a very happy baby. They pour us tea, and begin to tell us about their family. Mary translates as the woman talks

with us. The husband shows us his art work and Nicholas is very impressed. We thank them and head out to the street where we buy sodas and chips and get picked up by our driver. We say good-bye to Mary and head back to the hotel.

7/22 On to Shanghai

We land in Shaghai (Pudong) at 4pm and we are greeted by Jimmy. He will be our guide, but there is another man who will do the driving. He helps us with our luggage and gets us to our hotel. He talks with us about the World Expo. The area is sectioned off into the Euro area and the China/Asia area. The "queues" can be quite long. He also tells us that Happy Valley is about two hours away, but he can arrange transportation for us. Jimmy teaches English and is a guide during the summer when school is out.

Our hotel room looks over an athletic club with a soccer field on the fourth floor rooftop. At night, we can hear the men yelling as they played under the lights.

7/23 World Expo

The World Expo is absolutely amazing. The park is divided into five zones along the Huangpu River. Each zone is filled with Pavillions. We head to the zone where we will find the USA and Italy Pavillions.
The kids stand at the entrance gates. Going through the gates feels like we are cattle being herded through a maze. We make it inside and the kids are already overheated and grumpy. We duck into the Africa Pavillion and enjoy the air conditioning.

We stand in line for the Italy Pavillion and enjoy the displays inside as well as the Italian restaurant upstairs. We eat spaghetti and continue through the park. The kids are even more grumpy and continuously ask to leave. I miss Preston so much and know that he would have the same appreciation that I do to be experiencing such a great event. But he is not here, and I can't take the nagging anymore.

The mascot for the Expo is Haibao (hi-bo) and the hotel has a display. The kids enjoy the life size version in the hotel lobby.

After the crazy day, we decide to go for a swim at the hotel. We are informed that we have to wear swim caps. We are the only ones inthe pool, and the man from the front counter enters the pool area and sits there. I am not sure if he was there to be a lifeguard or a poolguard, to make sure we follow the pool rules. It was creepy either way.

7/24 Happy Valley Amusement Park

The ride to Happy Valley is similar to the ride to Discoveryland in Dalian. The area is away from the city and being developed. You can see the construction and landscaping underway. Cathy explained that China's abundant resource is people, so where we would normally think of using more efficient ways of watering the grass along the roadside (sprinkler systems), China hires people to hold fire hoses and water.

The kids are happy in Happy Valley. It is a miracle that we even made it, since the concierge tried to tell me the park wasn't built yet. Behind Nick and Ella is the wooden roller coaster called Fireball. In line, the people are staring at us, pointing, smiling, whispering to each other. Some are bold enough to say hello and tell Ella she is beautiful. Some take pictures, sometimes they ask, sometimes they don’t. I am used to this behavior by now, but think about back home. The faces in line are ones that I would expect to see at the grocery store in Oregon, at work, at the farmer’s market, anywhere. But here, we stand out again as the only non-Asians in the park.

I read that when China was preparing for the Olympics, they worked on adjusting some of the behaviors of the locals. One behavior was spitting and the other was lifting their shirt. This man didnt get the memo. And there are amny more men like this everywhere we visit, some of them with bulging bellies...

We are excited to learn that Ella is tall enough to go on the Gyro-Swing, not to be confused the the traditional swings which she is NOT tall enough to ride.

We order shaved us and find that it is served with some kind of gummi shavings on top. I give it to Ella to eat, and she takes it happily.

The kids are not tall enough to go on the Diving Coaster, but they enjoy it from the sidewalk. The coaster sprays water as it passes over the crowd. It is a great way to cool off!

The park is pretty clean, but I did notice that there were not enough trash bins or recycling.