Last Days in Beijing

Friday, May 28, 2010--Beijing   We took the metro around town today. The weather looked quite good. Our first stop was the Olympic grounds from 2008. Just as we arrived, however, thunder began. We had to sit under an awning for some time while the rain came down and finally stopped. Then the sun came out and we were able to see the Bird's Nest Stadium and the Water Cube. I had seen both of them from a distance when I had been here two years ago just before the Olympics. But this time, we were up close. Unfortunately, the moist and polluted skies made it difficult to get good photos. I have read that the stadium is cracking and falling apart. What we could see is that it is incredibly dirty from air pollution. The Cube is closed for remodeling. It will retain its swimming lanes, I think, but above there where the seating areas were, they are putting a shopping mall and large meeting/dining rooms.   With the sun out, we headed to our second stop--the Summer Palace. The sun had been out for some time, but thunderstorms began again, unfortunately, right after we arrived. We stayed and saw what we could. I had been to the Summer Palace two years ago, but I saw something this time that I didn't realize before. It is a recreation of Hangzhou in Beijing. Apparently the Emperor wanted his own West Lake with its island, its pagoda on a mountain in the distance, its causeway, etc. We spent 2 ½ hours there.   Our final stop was unsuccessful. We had looked up the address of the Sam's Club here in Beijing and had mapped it on Google. We went there, but there was no Sam's Club at that location or nearby. We don't know if the store has closed or if Google maps was just completely wrong.   Saturday, May 28, 2010--Beijing   This is the last day for Wes and me to be together. I take a 30-hour bus trip to Inner Mongolia starting tomorrow morning, and he flies out to Chicago tomorrow afternoon. The sun was out, so we headed to the Temple of Heaven Park. It was full of people--bands playing, people dancing, people singing, women making swirls with streamers on sticks, people playing cards, etc.   We toured the Temple of Heaven which is a symbol for Beijing. It's a beautiful round building with 3 floors built with no concrete and no nails. Then we toured other buildings on the park grounds and flower gardens. After that, we just sat and listened the nice music being played. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Beijing North Train Station so I could see how to get there tomorrow. I also bought a train ticket I will need for next week.   To celebrate the end of our travels together, we got a Dairy Queen Blizzard this afternoon. We have been dieting, so it was nice to have a treat. Then we walked and explored the shopping street near our hotel.   Notes: The computer cursor is skipping all over the screen. I hope this posting is accurate. I will be posting from cyber cafes now for the rest of my trip, so postings may not be as regular as they have been so far.