Today we decided to strike out on our own. The children, mostly Emma, woke up at 6:00am (again). If you read yesterday's entry you know why. Anyway, we had a nice breakfast and off we went.

Hutongs are the old neighborhoods of Beijing. They are compact and built around the concept of Fung Shui. Fung Shui (translates to water wind) demands that none of the roads can be straight. With that said, all of the roads are formed in a zig-zag pattern. This means that the "good" winds carrying the "good" spirits can get in but the bad spirits can not. It does make for a very confusing map. I was lost in seconds. But the cool thing is we took an organized tour of the Hutongs.

We started in the Drum Tower. This tower is very tall and the stairs are very steep. We went to the top and got to hear the drums play (every 30 minutes in the summer).

We then went to the Bell Tower directly across the street and got to see another tea ceremony. We then walked down the oldest street in Beijing called "Pipe Street" or "Opium Street" It was very cool to see all of the people out and about. It was already over 90 degrees so the kids got to have ice cream at 10:30am.

Then we got to ride in a Rickshaw. Abby and I were in one and Amy and Emma were in the other. Abby and I were riding along and a car hit us. It was actually funny. We were stopped and they were doing less then 1 MPH so it was not dangerous. But it was very funny.

We got to stop off in someone's home and see how typical people in the Hutong live. Again, Fung Shui is very important. The owners live in the north section (biggest), the son lives in the east section, and most important....the daughter lives in the west section which is always at least 1 foot lower then the son's side. And of course the south is where the servants and children live. The son and daughter live across from each other and this is the Ying and Yang of the house. Parents and children also represent the Ying and Yang of the house.

The houses had a central courtyard which is decorated very nice and is where the family spends most of their time.

After all of that, I needed to do some shopping! That is right, Jarrett had to get his 'watch' on. So we went to the Pearl Market and found "BoBo the watch guy". I have bought from him often and he is a great guy. No haggling and he will actually fix the watches if they break. I got five watches and Amy got two. I even bought one for Emma.

After that we decided to head back to the hotel, get something to eat and rest for a bit. We decided to eat at the hotel and the kids just wanted something "normal". They had cheese pizza. Amy and I could not get enough of the tea here so we ordered tea. The guy who poured it was awesome. He could pour it behind his back, over his shoulder, over his head and many more. It was way cool.

Nap time then on with the show. The Beijing Acrobat Show. We went to the show and sat in our VIP seats (we have no idea how we got them but I think all the "gringos" get them). Right before the show Emma said she had to go potty. She ended up getting sick and did not see the show. We left halfway through.