Yashow/Olympic Park

Monday is fun day! We started out the day with a shopping trip to Yashow, the bargain market. I'm getting better at bargaining, but I definitely can still get better. It's funny how the people start at a ridiculously high price that tourists might go for if they don't know better. Sometimes they ask if we're students and we tell them no, that we live and work here, and then they give us "special friend price" haha....if that doesn't work we get offered "pretty lady price" or "only this low price for you. ONLY YOU!!" It's pretty interesting. I ended up getting a purse and a cute shirt!

What's your next move?

We also dinked around the larger brand-name shopping area a little a got some smoothies. There's always interesting stuff going on there. This time there was a big event for Lens Crafters and they had a beautiful carousel with horses and dolphins and unicorns. There was also a piece of a giant chess board, much resembling the one in Harry Potter.



Beijing 2008! There was a whole new subway line created just for all the Olympic buildings. We went later in the day so we could be there for sunset and see the bird's nest and the water cube (which is now a water park) all lit up. It was interesting to see all the tourists there. Most were Chinese but there were also many "foreigners" like us. While we waited for the sun to set we walked around the part of the area that seems to be more of a park. There were tables to eat at and lots of statues.

The bird is connected to the circle by an "S" curve, representing the yin and yang. How would you interpret the last picture? Chelsie and I both interpreted it differently and the description that was given for it was different from what either of us thought.

My absolute favorite pair of statues, though, were two of the first ones we saw. I don't know why the emotion of these statues hit me so hard. Maybe it's because I love the idea of love, or maybe because I appreciate simple yet poetic portrayals of complex emotions, or maybe it's because I miss Cody so much...whatever the reason, these two statues warmed my heart and made me smile.

This sign says "The grass is smiling at you. Please detour."

We had to wait much longer than we anticipated for the sun to set and so to kill time we walked down to this cute little lake area and gave our feet a break.

When the sun finally did set and the buildings lit up, it was beautiful. 

We were busy taking pictures when a young couple walked up to me with their baby and wanted me to take a picture WITH them. The mom put her daughter's arm around me and I smiled real big for the camera. We were later accosted by a bunch of squealing school girls who were beside themselves with excitement that they had found some Americans! We took several pictures with them and were cracking up the whole time.