Instead of sleeping in like originally planned for our free day, we decided to get up and go to the Temple of Heaven. Getting there was our first subway experience in Beijing, and I have to say that I was impressed. The subways were very clean, easy to use, and cheap. I think it was definitely the nicest subway I have been in. It was a long trip to get there, but when we finally did we walked around the Temple of Heaven grounds which had various sites to see like the Echo Wall and Circular Mound. The Echo Wall was cool because you can stand anywhere along the wall and talk in a normal voice, and your voice can be heard anywhere else along the wall. After walking through the gardens we then ate at the same fast food place as before with a Dairy Queen inside.
The Pearl Market was next on our schedule, and we spent a lot of time and money here. They had lots of things that I wanted to buy for good prices. Compared to other places, this market, I think, had some real brand name items for decent prices. The biggest attraction was obviously the pearls. Almost everyone bought some kind of pearls for gifts. We learned a little bit about the quality of pearls from the vendors. The size, color, shape, and luster are most important. Also, to tell if it’s real, you scratch the pearl to make sure it remains shiny.
Later, we returned to Pizza Hut to eat again before going to an acrobatic show. We took a taxi to get there, and I absolutely loved the show. I guess some people had seen similar shows in other places, so they weren’t as impressed as I was. The acrobats did lots of tricks involving props and using their extreme flexibility. There was also a really cool wheel/cage contraption that spun around with two guys doing tricks inside of it. Once the show ended, we returned to the hotel to relax the rest of the night.