Today was our free day. We went to see the Temple of Heaven. We all went together as a group even though we didn’t have too. Like always, there were tons of Chinese people who wanted to take pictures of/with us. Its flattering that they want pictures of us, but sometimes it can get a little creepy when they don’t do it without our consent. Being there was like getting a little taste of being a celebrity, with the paparazzi and everything.
After that, we went shopping. I bought so much stuff, I couldn’t believe all of the fake, cheap brand name items that I saw there, I went nuts buying lots of stuff. Too bad at the end of it all when we were waiting for the bus, I left my stuff on the ground and we couldn’t go back for it. I felt so stupid for getting all of my stuff that I just bought stolen. And believe when I say that I bought a lot of stuff. I’m going to make up for it by doing more shopping than ever later on in the trip.
We also went to the Pearl Market and a lot of the girls were buying pearls. They were relatively cheap, but still too expensive for me, and I don’t like jewelry that much anyway. Later on that night we went to see a Chinese acrobatic show. It was amazing the kind of stuff that they do. I got really scared because this one performer kept pretending to mess up while being suspended 30 feet in the air. I freaked out every time he pretended to fall. But over all I can’t believe that they can bend into so many shapes and have such good balance. It’s crazy, and we heard that the company raised most of the people who do these things because they were orphans and no caring parent would ever subject their kids to this kind of thing. In America, that would definitely not be legal.