Today was our “Free Day” to really do whatever we pleased whether it was shopping, exploring, or just hang-out. I had breakfast and then met with Krysta and a large group in the lobby and then we headed out to the subway station Wudaokou; our destination: The temple of heaven. The subway is a great way to get place to place in the city and it’s very inexpensive. Only two yuan will get you to any stop in the city but it could be crowded at times. We took several transfers but eventually made it to the temple. There were a lot of the typical ancient buildings but by far the coolest building was the Hall of Good Harvest. It was circular and had a 3-teired navy blue roof. The emperor apparently went there to pray each year for a good harvest for the people. Another cool part of the temple of heaven was the echo wall. It is said that you can stand at any point on the outer wall and hear another person at any other point on the wall. We tried it and it actually works! There were also some really unmoving parts of the temple, such as the circular mound. It really was not all that impressive, although it is said that if you stand at the center of the mound, the gods can hear your prayer more than the rest. After a walk through some really beautiful and serene gardens, we headed over to Yoshinoya for some lunch and then Dairy Queen for a classic ice cream cone. We then headed up to the famous pearl market, where one can buy real pearls for prices that cause American jewelers to squirm. We walked around and looked for cool things to buy and look at. There were a lot of interesting things to buy, but it was mostly fake and ripped off. Adam told me that someone had attempted to show him an “Iphone”, as he simultaneously whipped out his real one. Rather than the person who was trying to sell him remark that theirs was different or fake, they remarked that it was just the “Original iPhone” and that he could consider their version. I find that most of the Chinese consumer market may be made up of fake or reproduced goods, and that finding the ‘real thing’ is a difficult or expensive task.
I purchased a good knock-off of a Man U soccer jersey, a bracelet of pearls, and a “Coach” purse knock off. The last two being gifts for my mom and sister respectively. After the time at the pearl market came to an end we headed out to the subway for a ride home. We then all got a quick bite to eat at the local pizza hut as a much needed American meal, and quick went back to the hotel and got changed for the night’s festivities.
We then all boarded taxis and headed to the theater where we got to see a Chinese acrobat show. It was really neat and they were very skilled in flips and jumps they performed. My personal favorite part of the show was when a large rotating hamster wheel like contraption was lowered and two acrobats nimbly ran around the outer and inner edges as it rotated quite quickly around a central pivot. The show ended in about an hour to an hour and a half and then we took the subway home to avoid the cab fare.