"Good morning, Twins!"

The people in our hotel in Beijing kept asking if we were sisters. We laughed it off, but they seemed to enjoy asking each day. This morning we came down to breakfast to a bright and cheerful doorman calling out, "Good morning, twins!" Quite funny.

My 'twin' and I set off for our last day in Beijing with a lot on our agenda. But in the end, we decided to forgo the Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace for the local side of Beijing. Having been wowed by The Great Wall and The Forbidden City, we thought this would be a really nice way to wrap up the trip plus, I always like to leave a place wanting more. 

We headed first for the Hou Hai lake and the surround Hutongs (another word for neighborhoods made up of traditional courtyard style homes and small little lanes). We decided to take a "rickshaw" tour and were happy we did (see above picture) - we couldn't have covered as much ground on foot in the little time we had. Plus, today was pretty cold, so it was the best way to stay warm!

Below are a few sights from our journey around the lake and the surrounding Hutongs. It really felt like an authentic view into a typical Sunday in Beijing...

Above: Small corner store within the Hutongs

Above: A local doing his morning exercises along Hou Hai lake. I see this in the back of my building in Guangzhou and always assumed the adults were using some of the kids' playground equipment, but I'm beginning to think these are actually built for the adults... they just look a bit like playground equipment!

Above: Along the lake, a heated game of table tennis. This man was really good and very enthusiastic!!

Above: A man we observed jumping into the mostly frozen lake... it seems we stumbled upon Beijing's version of the Polar Bear Club

After our rickshaw tour, we headed to the Panjiayuan Market across town, a market I was told was a "not to miss" in Beijing. We were not disappointed. You can probably gather by now that the local markets have been one of my absolute favorite parts about my time here. It's just a treasure chest of pictures and such a neat way to observe how the city moves. This market was filled with antiques and so-called "curios"... essentially, a lot of faux antiques, books, pottery, art supplies, jewelry, games, really anything you can image! Here's a glimpse:

Above: Enough beads for you?? Colette in one of the many jewelry/bead stalls

Above: A few little trinkets. As usual, I didn't buy anything, but snapped pictures like a crazy person. 

Above: Some Mao Communist memorabilia from one of the stalls. I adjusted the books to take my picture, and when I walked away she snapped "get back here - put back!!" WOOPS. This is probably not the right stall to mess with!

Above: Rows and rows of vendors selling books

Above: One of the vintage looking gramaphones (I think that's what it is). This shop also had real looking Singer sewing machines, but apparently it's all fake. Crazy!

Above: A vendor in the market 

This really was a perfect way to end our stay in Beijing. We were so wowed by what we had seen in the previous two days, but we were really lacking a feel for Beijing. Today certainly helped us get that. Beijing is a city of massive proportions - the buildings and roads are just enormous. It was nice to get off of the main streets and into the back roads to really see the people of this amazing city. 

I'll be back, Beijing!