Temple of Heaven, etc.

Today we toured the Temple of Heaven, Tienanmen Square and had a Rickshaw tour of the old Beijing neighborhood (the Hutong). The weather has been better than expected. Right around 90, but with no humidity. Too hot for any type of real physical exertion, but very nice for our leisurely strolls through these tourist attractions.

Anyway, now for a few photos:

Here are Kirsten, Patrick and Kaitlyn at the Temple of Heaven. It was just as nice as ever with the bonus of plenty of shade.

This is the whole motley crew at Tienanmen Square. I don't have picture of it, but sometime during the last year, they decided to build two enormous video screens at the square. They appeared to be playing some kind of big advertisement about China. It just seemed to us to be out of place.

Kirsten rode with the girls in a Rickshaw. Patrick and I rode together in a different one. The Rickshaw peddlers were fun. Constantly trying to race each other, especially those (like us) where the families were split. This time, they took us by all back routes. They didn't even come close to getting us out into the main traffic. I wonder if they have had complaints in the past.

As promised, here is a photo of us all wearing our swimming caps. I find it very interesting that at meals none of the food dishes come with serving spoons. Each person has to take stuff form them using the same chopsticks that you eat with. But heaven forbid if you try and enter a public pool with a bare head!!