ODDS AND ENDS FROM THE 春节 HOLIDAY

天坛 Temple of Heaven Park

日坛公园Ritan Park

Mural near Ritan Park:

Nicholas astutely pointed out that there are numerous little ladies in the jars depicted. I'm afraid to offer conjecture.

厕所幽默 Toilet humor

Yes, the sign really reads "Pees only". The small print beneath it promises that "Offenders are fined."

This is me outside of a "4-star toilet" at the Temple of Heaven park. What a proud day that was.

东城的附近 - Around Dongcheng

Nick getting measured and then fitted for his sharp tailor-made suit.

后海 Houhai


One day we wandered into a mall in trendy Xidan, stepping on the first escalator that presented itself then slowly realizing it took us 6 floors up in one swoop. Reaching the top, we were confronted with this map:

It took a while to figure out how to get down again as all the down escalators only went one floor at a time and once reaching that floor (Trendy? Sexy? Crash?) there was no connecting escalator in sight, but shops filled with shiny, appealing commodities stretched as far as the eye could see. Designed by an evil genius, I tell you.

This compilation for lovelorn executives was available in one of the shops:

I really wish I had taken the time to try and figure out what was on it. I'm so very curious now. Sade? David Gray? Hall & Oates' Rich Girl as re-envisioned by Kenny G?

首都博物馆 Capital Museum...

... where there was a really cool exhibit on Olympic posters from the last century:

Here, Nick and I learned that the first few resuscitated Olympic games were held in conjunction with the World's Fair. Which means that the St. Louis 1904 World's Fair was also the site of the Second Olympic Games. Represent!