Day 377 New friend; old city

Let me introduce you to my new Scottish lass, Jade :)

After last night's debauchery, it took some chocolate chip
pancakes, Cuban coffee, Tylenol, and laying low until noon
to feel like I was among the living again.  I took one look out
my window, and I could not let a gorgeous clean air,
blue sky day in Beijing pass me by- time to get my butt in gear.
I mapped out a game plan, and invited my new friend, Jade,
along to go explore my beautiful Beijing.

We headed to the north central part of the city to walk through
some hutongs. I vaguely recall last night some discussion of
one day eating a donkey burger.  will have to wait another day :/

You know I cannot pass up a cool door.

We popped out by Bei Hai park and Jade was amazed to see
beautiful lakes and boats in the middle of the city. It really
is a lovely area, near the Drum and Bell Towers.

Something interesting to see at every turn.

How's this for a fancy park entrance? Inviting!

I miss my water garden and waterfall :/

After walking around the lakes, we came to
Jingshan Park behind the Forbidden City.
For 2y, or 35 cents, we had admission to a
most lovely park. The highlight is walking to the
temple at the top of the hill for views of the city.

It is a trip that can only be taken on a clean air day- Gorgeous!

Looking to the north, in the far distance at the
tower in the center is the Olympic Green Park.

Looking to the south is a complete view of all the Forbidden
City, and beyond that, Tiananmen Square.

My new friend, with the very old (c1400's) Forbidden City behind us.

There's the lovely, lass. What a sweet girl :)

And in the temple? A golden Buddha, of course ;)

As you begin the descent, there's another pagoda,
perfect for sitting....

...and eating some 'marital bliss' ice cream.
We whiled away the afternoon just enjoying
the sunshine and getting acquainted. 

And then little miss fell for it- she had to have
her picture made in all the Chinese kitsch!

We popped out by the north gate of the Forbidden City,
and opted to walk around the perimeter to Tiananmen Gate.

Forbidden City is surrounded by a moat....

...with these huge, 'guard gates' stationed at
each corner of the compound. It's hard to
appreciate how massive these guard shacks are.

We then made our way around the "block" to the south gate
which faces Tiananmen Square. Jade had to get her pic with Mao.

Standing guard; look through the archways to
the 'layers' entering in to the Forbidden City.
Again, the buildings are massive.

Tiananmen Square is still staged from the military parade.
I love the flower decorations; 1945 & 2015.

It was getting late in the afternoon, and I had
another 'treat' in store- a trip to Wafujing-
the famous night market.

It was getting close to dinner time!

This booth had HUGE centipedes, tarantulas, snakes,
and lizards on a stick.  Ummm, no thank you.

How about a giant grasshopper, grasshopper?!

We were brave and opted for the potato chips, lol.

So many interesting baubles to touch and see.

Gaudy silk flowers wreaths and ribbons are so LAST YEAR.
The crazy Chinese fashion trend this year is 'sprouts';
toadstools, wildflowers, ferns, and little forest creatures
which 'sprout' from your hair. It's not a trend for little girls
and teens- I've seen grown women (above) and men wearing them!

Every other booth in the night market
was selling 'sprouts'. I don't get it.

I can't make this stuff up. Chinese fashion don't mean a thang.

We opted for a new way to wear a stick in our hair...

A pretty jade peacock stick for Jade :)

Thanks, ladies :)

We played dress up; and I bought a short traditional Chinese dress.

This needs no explanation, lol.

The Chinese love to have their picture taken
with their "new American friend" :)

So, I learned this time around that these are not
baby ducklings, or small hens. They are PIGEONS.
No wonder you hardly ever see pigeons in this city.
They eat the damn things; head, feet, and all!

We passed on the pigeons, and opted for the mango coconut rice instead.

Jade's face says it all; I had not tried a bite yet!
It didn't last long, before it, too, ended up in the trash.

Maybe the black rice in a pineapple might have been
tastier?!  We were past the point of experimenting.

In fact, as the moon rose, so did the crowd in
the night market. It was all we could do to push
through the sea of humanity and past the rancid
grease and other questionable odors on our way out.
All in all, it was a glorious day to explore the city!

G'nite, y'all!