Monday

Walti and I had to get up early - he, to go on a bike ride (expect a guest blog on that topic in the future), and I, to attend my Chinese lessons.

We all convened back at the apartment, and spontaneously called Lina for lunch. She ended up not only inviting all of us for a delicious meal (not exactly what we had in mind when we called), but she also took us for a walk to Jingshan Park for a view of the city (although the visibility was not great, it was still impressive). The pavillions had all been freshly painted and adorned with gold leaf, so they were spectacular.

After that, we wandered over to Beihai Park. Initially built in the 10th Century, it has a history of over a thousand years, including five dynasties, through the Qing Dynasty (1911). The Park has an area of more than 700 000 m2, with over half covered by water. It was wonderfully empty of crowds after the huge tourist throngs just the week before, when 70 000 or more visited the park daily.

Our generally northerly route took us eventually to Houhai, a pedestrian area of restaurants and bars, with outdoor seating along the lake, where we stopped for a beer at a rooftop bar. By then, it was dark and time to head home. We still had to make the arrangements for our trip to the Great Wall tomorrow!!