A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE CHINESE, CJ AND PANDAS

This morning I left around 0730 with CJ. He went off to school and I stayed in the park and watched some people practicing Tai Chi, saw parents taking their children to school and people going off in all directions. It was a lot cooler this morning in the 60's and windy.

I don't understand why all the small toddlers size children wear these pants that are open in the back. I thought maybe for potty training or so they don't have to buy diapers. I was sitting there watching these 2 little kids and the way they were dressed I wasn't sure if they were boys or girls. I realized they were both boys and thought maybe that is why, so you can tell the difference!!



I headed on over to the Wu Mart and found they don't open until 830 but at 800 there were already people standing there waiting. I decided to talk a venture down the street. I took about a 15 minute walk down and turned around and came back. I went into Wu Mart and bought a few things. The sales girl was trying to tell me something. She had the receipt in her hand and was pointing to it. I thought she wanted me to give her more money, as it turned out they had charged me too much and she had to go and get the money for me. It was a little harder without my interpreter but again I made it through.



When you walk thru the doors at the Wu Mart you are actually in a little shopping mall. You must take the excalator upstairs. The Wu Mart is on 2 floors. On the 2nd floor are the clothes, small appliances, dishes, soap, shampoo and things like that. The food is on the 1st floor. There is a really odd odor that hits you as you come downstairs and enter the food section. It is really hard to explain what it is, I think a combination of a lot of things going on there, but it is not the most pleasant smell. Sometimes it almost makes me feel sick.
There is a secion on the right with large black cauldron like containers that you would find filled with soup at Giant Eagle, with some kind of strange food some of which seems like pickles with other things mixed in. Next to that is a large area with all kinds of meat that is also undescribable.



On the left you will see steam coming off of things they are cooking and around the corner from there is where they are baking bread.

There are so many kinds of food and meats that I never saw before and have absolutely no idea of what they are.
Further back in the store there are large bins that the butchers keep throwing cut up chicken in. The shoppers fill bags as they root thru the chicken to find the pieces they want.


This morning there were very long lines around the fruit and vegetable section. They were waiting in lines to get their produce weighed. It is very interesting going up and down the isles. There are so many things that you have never seen before and not sure what it is. Then there are the ones that you recognize by the logo but are written in Chinese. They have Lays and Pringles, Coke, Skippy peanut butter and Friskies cat food. I even saw Heinz baby food.

Here are a few things I bought today



Let me tell you about CJ's apartment. It is really perfect for him.

Once you make it up those 6 flights of stairs you come to this door that looks like it belongs in a bank or vault somewhere. Every door in the apartment building is different.



As you come in the front door you are in the living room, to the right is the kitchen and to the left is his bedroom. Off of the bedroom there is a little balcony that is closed in. This is where most people including CJ hang their clothes to dry or store things.







Back at the front door there is a door immediately to the left. This is the bathroom. In his bathroom is a small washer against the wall, the commode then a shower curtain which is between the commode and the small sink. This is where you shower. Just close the curtain and stand near the sink and take down the shower head. The water runs down the drain in the middle of the floor. But first you must go into the kitchen to turn on the hot water heater. I guess this is an energy saving device just as the commode has no water in it but has a full and half flush button.



My bed is this cute little sofa next to the computer table. It is perfect for me. I usually wake up earlier than CJ and I can get up and use his computer for a while. I have actually slept quite well there. He offered me the bed but he is so tall that I don't think he would be too comfortable there anyway.



It was very windy last night. He told me the wind howls thru these buildings. He was so right!! It was so loud and through the middle of the night the window banged closed and the door rattled all night. All over the apartment you could hear doors banging closed.

The Beijing Zoo
It was cooler this afternoon in the low 70's and still windy so we headed to the Zoo. Someone told us to go on a cooler day because you will more likely see the pandas out and about. On hot days they tend to sleep.
This is the Zoo Entrance. Everyone stops here to take pictures and we were no exception.






Of course the most important thing to see at the Beijing Zoo is the Giant Panda.




AAAAAWWWWWWW!!!!!


HOW CUTE!!!!

And of course this one had to show off by standing on his head!!!!



Lions and Tigers and Bears....OH MY!!!


The Beijing Zoo is really old and run down. Most of the animals were behind glass or in cages which made it hard to take their pictures. There was a lot of construction work going on throughout the area.

I found that these sites were better than the animals.








We got back around 7:00 pm so CJ cooked dinner for us. He made dumplings which are dough filled with vegetables, eggs or pork. They are one of his favorites. Cheap, quick and easy but they were very tasty.