Day 3 in Beijing

(Disclaimer: Due to the fact we can't access Blogger while in China, we have to e-mail our posts and can't quite format the why we would like!)

We started off our day today going to the WalMart right across the street from Gayle's house where we got a few things that we needed. Walmart was lots of fun and Gayle warned us that it was a little chaotic, but I thought it was pretty much on par with any WalMart I have been too! Connor and I saw these really tasty little wan ton looking things and decided to get a bag full of them. We had no idea what was inside them, but that's how we roll! Andrea, as usual, let us test them first and then finished off the bag! J

After WalMart we hopped in a tax and went over to the Bead Market. This is the wholesale shopping mall for everything jewelry (except Pearls, because that is at the Pearl Market). Andrea was on a mission to find some jewelry for Lizzie as she grows up and the materials to make necklaces and bracelets when we get home. It actually was lots of fun and Connor and I had a great time with the pocket translator trying to find different things Andrea wanted. It was amazing to see the amounts of things we bought for $30!

After the bead market we jumped in a cab and went to the Temple of Heaven. This place is huge! The architecture is over 500 years old and we fully plan on learning more about it online later. It was just a little warm to want to spend too much time learning while we were there.

In the evening, we met back at Gayle's house to go to dinner and to stop by the Silk Market. The silk market has all kinds of clothes and fun things to buy. This picture is of Connor and Lidia, but you can see Andrea and Gayle haggling in the background for some different things. While they were doing that, Connor and I slipped away and found the knock off Ipods and golf stuff. I ended up buying a sweet Taylor Made rescue club for $20 and Connor did NOT get an i-touch that he had negotiated from 800 RMB to 500 RMB. He is a good little negotiator though and is learning quickly. You can imagine the spectacle that I was walking around with two of the cutest Chinese-American girls we have ever met (because we still haven't met Lizzie!) and a wild-haired blond kid. Then we all loaded in 2 cabs and tried to go to dinner. Gayle told our cab driver where to take us but he ended up getting lost. Our only recourse was to have him take us back to the apartment where we waited for Gayle to realize that we weren't going to make it. We weren't getting through on the cell phone for some reason (which we later learned was because it was back in the apartment!) Gayle brought home a bunch of food for us that we have decided not to call Chinese Food anymore, because in China, it would just be called "food!" It was wonderful.

Tomorrow is the Great Wall and Summer Palace!