First evening in Beijing--January 9

This was later on the day we met Dean's foster parents. Perhaps one day I will organize my blog entries, but don't hold your breath.

We drove back into Beijing to the Crow's Nest, sight of the Track and Field events in the 2008 Olympic games. I really liked this building, the top of which is meant to evoke the Olympic flame. Pretty cool, huh? I didn't remember seeing this featured during the Olympics but it is a block from the Crow's Nest and across from the Cube.
You can take tours in the Crow's Nest, but we were completely exhausted and cold by this point so we wimped out! It really is an amazing building--beautifully conceived and executed.

The pictures are out of order for the day. I snapped this picture during our rickshaw/hutong tour in the afternoon. If I had snapped the picture to the left side of the rickshaw you would have seen bar after bar after bar with neon Budweiser signs. Obviously, this is the party area of Beijing.

These are pictures inside the hutong, which is a traditional Chinese home with rooms arranged around the courtyard. The head of the family would have lived in the house on the north side. The sons would have lived in the house on the east, where things begin. The daughters were on the west, and maybe grandparents to the south? Not sure.