Change, Change Everywhere.....

We started the day by visiting the old hutong sand taking a rickshaw tour through them. So much has changed. When we visited this area in the late 1990s, the lakes were in the process of being dredged, getting ready for the Olympic bid and the Asian games (I think). Ian and I commented that if this area ever got nice, it would be filled with expensive stores, bars and restaurants......

Well, that day has arrived and the place has been transformed. The Drum Tower has been given a nice facelift and renovated nicely. There are dozens of little tea shops and cafes, bars and pubs, shops and artsy kinds of places. Driving past it tonight was also amazing..all lit up. Now of course there is not one hutong tour company but rather 3-4, and the stops and the 'see and buy' orpportunites have increased immensely. What used to be a leisurely peddle through the hutong with a couple of stops is now a constant on/off -open the wallet kind of experience. I shouldn't complain. I would still recommend it highly to first-timers to Beijing, but it lacked luster for me. $120 later we pried ourselves away from the whining guides who were pleading for big tips and went sprinting to a taxi.

Next stop: TIENANMEN SQUARE. Girls were getting tired so we promised them McDonalds. Wasn't there a McDOnalds next to the KFC (of famous repute as that as were Tienanmen Student Leader, Chai Ling met undercover with Western reporters in 1989). Anyway, no McDonalds, and the bribe failed, but the girls were given an option "KFC or real food" and THEY OPTED FOR REAL FOOD. Had a great Chinese lunch off the Square with the girls downing noodles and dumplings and Ian and I indulging in salt/pepper cuttlefish and eggplant/dried fish. YUM! Oh, and we treated outselves to a glass of Great Wall Cabernet. Yes, there IS such a thing.

We came back to the hotel and spent a couple of hours watching DVDs (girls), checking email (Ian) and mom taking a brief nap. Then it was off to the Lido Holiday Inn where I could take a trip down memory lane.

When I used to come to Beijig every March for the Beijing International School's Model United Nations conference, my friend and I used to stay at the Lido. There was a great market, since demolished, and replaced with a newer, more upscale vanue, fitting for the incredible development in this area. I think the changes in Beijing struck me most tonight. I walked out the side enterance of the Lido knowing exactly what I should see and was unprepared for the site I DID see. Total transformation! In six years!! There is a lot of money floating around in Beijing...you see it in the lights, the restaurants, the buildings, the cars, the prices. Still, I felt some of that shopping mania come back as I walked the halls of the new Lido market (called Sunny Gold something......) . Olympic Mascot stuffed animals dropped in price from $7 each to a mere $1.75 each. The only thing stopping me was my limited luggage capacity at the moment. We did emerge with a new pair of red converse for Zoe, a Pokemon Gameboy game, some Pokemon trading cards, and a barbie tshirt for Mae. Stopped at the local shop for wine, cheese, icrecream and gum, and called it a night. The girls were asleep in the taxi before we had travelled three blocks.

And then, more buildings, all new, all HUGE, big impressive buildings.....drove down restaurant street (forget the name) with hundreds upon hundreds of red lanterns.....Lights, neon, more lanterns. This is hard to explain, but the sheer quanity of it all is overwhelming. I rolled m\down my window twice and yelled "OH GOD, check it out" because I just can't get my mind wrapped around the changes here.Ian thinks this is a different city, and bemoans the great reduction in the number of bikes on the roads.

Ian very much wants to return to the Summer Palace tomorrow and I the Temple of Heaven. Joan will meet us and we will taxi it around the western part of Beijing tomorrow....our last full day in Beijing until late next week. We head to ChaoHu on Wednesday afternoon where HaiYIng will pick us up at the airport in Hefei.

We now own a cellphone! If you get some strange, cryptic message from an 'out of area' number, it might just be from Beijing!

Lisa