Traveling day seventeen - many steps in the streets of Beijing

The pollution level was high today in Beijing and we arose to a hazy morning. We had arranged to meet one of Kerryn's friends at the Temple of Heaven - a large park with a temple in it - so we caught the subway with many many other people. There are a lot of people in China. It feels like the Ekka train every trip.

In the Temple of Heaven park all of Beijing seemed to be there involved in some activity. There was kite flying and harmonica bands and line dancing and ribbon twirling and walking around a tree (!) and jive dancing. We had planned to have a small family Sunday service in a quiet corner of the park, but we were within earshot of the German music of the harmonica band. Both the girls used their gifts well in the service, Gab was the leader and had organized a run sheet, and Annika did the readings. We had music and sharing time as well. It was very special to be with friends and celebrate Sunday together in the middle of Beijing!

The Temple was hugely beautiful - blue and gold everywhere. Apparently it was built with no nails. I felt calm being there.
Apart from the crowds.
And the microphones of the tour guides.
And the whinging children.

After some Beijng duck we said goodbye to Kerryn and Ellie who caught the train back to Wuhan this afternoon. It has been awesome catching up with them, one of those friendships that will last a whole lifetime even though we live in different countries.

If I was wearing a pedometer today I think I would have stepped 10000 steps. We walked around the shopping streets this afternoon checking everything out and buying some little presents.

There plates of dumplings later we are back at the youth hostel wondering about luggage and packing for going to Vietnam tomorrow.

And my quads are still sore from climbing the wall!

Chris' Cultural Tip - Marriage Can Be Different in China.
When walking through the Temple of Heaven park today we came across an interesting section of the park. There were many older people there, many of them with sheets of paper which seemed to be contain the description of a person (name, gender, height, etc). I was intrigued and asked further what this was. Was this parents looking for missing people or something? Nope. It was basically a "marriage market".

In a culture of arranged marriages sometimes normal networks get exhausted. In this case one option is this "marriage market. It is a place were parents can gather and see if they can find a suitable match for their offspring. The old-fashioned equivalent of Internet dating in a culture of arranged marriages. It shows that marriage can be different in China.





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