HUTONGS

We took a rickshaw through Beijing 's old Hutongs (narrow ancient ally ways). These neighborhoods are over 600 years old. The emperors of China used to live in them. Until the 1980's when China became open to the rest of the world Beijing was made up of these type of neighborhoods. Now most of Beijing is high rises. We shopped on "Lotus Lane." We ate dinner in the court yard of a local family. Well, we didn't actually eat in the court yard we ate in their dining room. Four families share the courtyard, kitchen, dining room and bathroom.

Rickshaw

This is the street we shopped on. I bought a couple of souvenirs. I liked this street because the prices were fixed. I am not a fan of shopping (unless it's coupon shopping at Walmart) so shopping and arguing over prices is not fun for me. Other's in the group really enjoyed haggling over prices. Speaking of Walmart. I would have liked to visit one in China. We drove past one and part of the signage on the building says "Walmart: A pretty store."

The post office. I loved all the red doors. It reminded me of a history book. Hm, maybe because I've seen them in history books.

A market we passed on our rickshaw ride.

One of the alley ways.

Part of our tour group. This is the home we ate lunch at. The grandfather is a famous artist. He painted all the pictures on the wall.

Hey chicken get out of my way.