Megan's Blog - May 16th and 17th

After we arrived at our hotel we decided to do some exploring downtown.  Our hotel is on a street with loads of shops so there was plenty to look at.  The variety of the retailers is really amazing.  On one side of the street there are malls filled with big well-known international brands: Gucci, Zara, etc.  On the other side you have small Chinese shops selling anything from jade jewelry to shoes to drinks and candy.  Go one street over and you’re in the open air markets (which is one of the most exciting shopping experiences I’ve had in a while!)  Here you can find all kinds of interesting surprises: pearl jewelry, jade figures, wooden toys, stuffed animals, clothes, shoes and food (including seahorses and scorpions!). 

After shopping we went to visit Beijing Sport University.  We toured the Olympic training facilities as well as the different training facilities for the students on campus.  We met some of the undergraduate students and spoke with them about life on campus, their hobbies, plans for the future, etc.  Everyone was very nice and I look forward to meeting with them again tomorrow.

That night as we were walking back from dinner (yay for delicious udon noodles with chicken!!!) we stopped by St. Joseph’s Cathedral where we found a huge group of line-dancers with glow sticks.  In my humble opinion, there is no better way to burn off those dinner calories than line dancing with glow sticks.  That’s just awesome.  I wish I knew what songs they were playing.  I would feel motivated to work out to that music too (true story!).