Beijing - Day 3 and 5 - duck, bikes, art

Friday, April 6 (Day 3) I went on a bike tour through the Hutongs which are areas which the original/older huts are located.  Pretty much a poor area.  On our bikes was a great way to go through all these small alley ways and cover a lot of ground.  There were 4 other people on this tour with me.

Isabel and Jill - enjoying Peking Duck

We had lunch in somoene's kitchen/living room/shower area - there are no bathrooms even still in these places.  (Although I have just learned that my colleague who lived in the hutongs for 10 years did have 2 bathrooms with western toilets. ) Then we learned how to play Mahjong, a popular game played by the Chinese.

Coincidentally, my friends Isabel and Robert were in Beijing the same time as me and we got together for a wonderful Peking Duck dinner.  The restaurant was called DaDong Roast Duck Restauarnt.  We had 6 delicious vegetables and then 2 ducks (there were 7 of us).  What a really lovely meal, good food, good company!




Sun. April 8 (Day 5) James from Ireland joined my tour today  I didn't really like this tour today. The only part I liked was seeing the 2008 Olympic stadium aka the bird's nest. We went inside to see the whole stadium.

in front of the Bird's Nest - Stadium

Prior to that we saw "the Egg" which is where concerts/ballet are held and then we saw this stone and wood private museum - very small. 

After the Olympics we had lunch then walked around the 798 art district. Very modern and weird art and sculptures. 

Wish the summer palace was a part of this tour.