Wandering in Beijing

Last night, I bought a bicycle on my way home from work. It is a pretty spiffy ride.



Most of my freetime in Beijing has been spent wandering around the city. Last week, I visited the pearl market to buy a birthday gift for my brother, (they sell pearls, and everything else under the sun), then wandered into the gardens of the Temple of Heaven. It is beautiful. The gardens were lovely.



Bunches of people, like this couple, were playing Chinese hackey sack.



This picture, below, is of my first solo cab ride in Beijing. Most of my end of the conversation was "Wo bu shi dao" or "I don't Know", but atleast I managed to give him the proper location in mandarin.



On Sunday, I wandered into Tuanjiehu Park. Along the edge of the pond, people were fishing for goldfish.





The man I was photographing gave me a chance to fish as well. I didn't catch a single fish. Perhaps in the future, I will give it a try on my own.




and, yes, people were dumping their fish back in the pond. They were not for keeps.





After the park, I hopped on the subway and got off at a random stop. I wound up at the Beijing Railway Station. The building itself is really cool, and the crowds on the plaza were terrific. Tons of people were sitting on the ground, waiting for trains to roll in, smoking cigarettes and loosening ties.