Day two: temple of heaven, zoo, tea house, peking opera
Today, after our second breakfast at the hotel and a quick trip to starbucks, we boarded the bus at 8:30. We began our day at the Temple of Heaven, were we had a tai chi lesson and played some badminton with the retired people at the park. From there, we broke into smaller groups and explored the multiple buildings. At the Temple of Heaven the air quality was rough. The visibility was very low and the high winds kicked up the dust. From there we visited the Beijing Zoo to visit the nine pandas that reside in various indoor and outdoor cages. Unfornately, we did not get to see any other animals in the Zoo, but it was fun nonetheless. After a lunch at the Wahaha hotel, we headed to olympic park to see the water cube and the birds nest. While the group did not get to go into the birds nest, a few people payed out of pocket to see the track. Due to am excess amount of time, we decided to go to a tea house in the spur of the moment. The tea ceremony was very structured and every tea had its own special way of steeping, flavor and biologicl benefits. After the ceremony, we visted the shop, where nearly everyone purchased something tea related. Then we were off to dinner. The dinner had some questionables, but overall the food was good, as all the food so far has been. A breif drive brought us to the Peking Opera, were we saw some highlights of a full play. The play was a mix of high pitched singing, intricate makeup and martial arts/acrobatics. After about an hour of poorly translated lyrics, we headed back home for some well needed rest.
-Catherine