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III
Ready to be a Tourist?
November 30, 2008
// 12:22 AM
So after 5 months and some weeks, I have finally decided to hit up the tourist spots of Beijing. We have about 3 weekends left to fit in everything and let's just say the weekends are about to be very tiring. I've been here for 5 something months and I still haven't gone to The Forbidden City. Why? Well,
1) during the summer and early fall, it was about 90+ degrees outside everyday
2) the tourist season just ended, so prices are slashed in half, yes!
3) the crowds during the tourist season are unbearable; nearly empty sites make better pictures than 3 times over-crowded sites do
 So there. I finally went to The Temple of Heaven this weekend with George, Angela, Ivy, Alex, and Winnie. It was quite fun actually. Temple of Heaven isn't just a tourist location, it's also a place of relaxation for locals. Right when we entered the park, we heard some loud chorus singing. As we approached a long corridor, we saw a group of locals gathered holding scripts and singing with a conductor in the middle. It was amazing! We also saw locals doing 扭秧歌儿, basically ribbon dancing. Others were playing 羽毛球, badminton. We kept walking towards the Temple of Good Harvest or something along those lines, while Winnie gave us a mini tour from the info she got reading about the place earlier. I definitely need to start reading up on the sites BEFORE I leave to see it. The place wasn't too crowded, but it was cold cold cold and windy. But The whole place was amazing none the less. There was also an "Echo Wall" there. It was a perfect circle and if one person stood at the west end and one person stood at the east end, and they yelled words near the wall while facing north, they could easily communicate. We tried it of course, and it worked. It was pretty awesome.
After that, we headed over to 三里屯, Sanlitun Bar Street. We splurged at Let's Burger and had their yummy mouth-watering burgers and fries. Okay, we were going totally American today, being tourist and eating burgers for dinner, so we felt we might as well hit up Cold Stone for dessert too. Haha.. It really doesn't sound like I'm in China, does it? Let's just say we're all pretty sick of eating Chinese all the time. Well the day ended and we were all about 20 dollars poorer (thanks to American prices at Sanlitunr).
Then the night was closed off watching Wanted. It was an alright movie I suppose, but a little confusing. I'd give it a 3.
For some reason, I've been longing to go home for so long now, but now that I think of it, I can still remember every little thing about home. I didn't forget anything, so it shouldn't be any different from when I get home, right? 22 more days! My flight gets in to SFO at 12:25pm on December 22. Oh baaby!! I hope I'm not jetlagged. I don't want to sleep during the day! I want to embrace all the Milpitas I can get.
Locals doing ribbon dancing
 Us doing the classic jumping picture in front of the Temple of Good Harvest 
Let's Burger, all decked out for Christmas. How American is this place!? It made me so happy being in there with all the decorations!
Labels: China, food, Home, sight-seeing
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Name: ymmatammy
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