It is mid autumn festival day here and Yang says we should go out as a family some place. I guess it is tradition that we go look at the moon. And the nice thing is that with all the pollution controls still in place, we can see the orange moon clearly to the east. So we head to the new Solana Mall, to walk along its eastern most edge, where the modern shops and bars meet the lake at Chaoyang park.
We decide to get ice cream, seems this is tied to the tradition somehow, although i seriously doubt Cold Stone was what they had in mind. Cold Stone here, in case you are wondering, is exactly the same as the states except for, of course, it isn't in the states. This is our 2nd cold stone stop in two days. The last time we we were walking though the center of the open air mall when a young Chinese worker girl tried to give us a flier for a restaurant. We declined. This is a very common scene in Beijing, young worker types handing out cards and flyers. Almost everyone ignores them except for those who don't. Then a strange thing happened. An older Aussie fellow was also handing out cards. We also declined his. Later, when Aidan and Lydia where splashing around in the fountain I struck up a conversation with him. Seems he opened a gelato place inside but business was slow because not all the stores are open yet. That and there is a Cold Stone 50 meters away, I thought. Anyway, we talked a bit and we learned the superficial details of each others lives. I never did have the heart to tell him that at that very moment I was stuffed full with Cold Stone. So now fast forward to mid autumn festival. I actually led the family down an alternative path partially so we would not have to pass him hawking his gelato. And we succeeded, stuffing our faces with Cold Stone. Just as we were about to make our great escape, Aidan and Lydia remembered the water fountains and off we went...past the gelato Aussie man. And this time, he wasn't just out by himself, he had a Chinese co-worker and and some type of Penguin/Pigeon mascot.
Lydia at the fountain
It is now the day after mid autumn festival, a rare Monday holiday from work. Somewhere in my work email box must be an official message declaring Sunday to have been switched to an official working day, Monday a weekend day, and Sunday a national holiday that we don't have to work. If this makes sense to you, then you already know too much about China.
Anyway, we headed out to go pick some fruit this morning but got lost and lost. Good thing that GPS I got for father's day is still sitting on the nightstand next too out bed. It actually worked out ok. At one point we turned into a small driveway but couldn't turn around because the road was too narrow. We ended up in a family farm that had lots of chickens and a few dogs. We thought to leave but the farmers had warm smiles so we got out. We went and picked peanuts. Who knew they grew in bunches on the ground, like small tomatoes? Wait, I'm not so sure that is how tomatoes grow. We got two big bags worth, a bunch of fresh eggs, and a couple of cucumbers for good measure. Lydia stopping from time to time to pick flowers. Aidan and Lydia scared of the big spiders overhead. Elisa content when Yang or the Ayi was holding her. Total haul was 25 kuai (about $3.75), the eggs were 20 kuai of that. As we were leaving the farm it occurred to me that in it's chaos, it was the almost ideal organic, pesticide free farm any hemp loving marin countian could imagine. And they were not even trying. It then occurred to me that I know nothing about farming. We finished off the morning with lunch at a mostly abandoned four star hotel, up in the surrounding hills.
Lydia checking out the chickens and later picking a flower.
Aidan and Lydia farming. Later, Aidan with his bounty of peanuts. Our Ayi, Yang's mom, and the farmer are behind him.
Two of the spiders we saw along the way.
The weekend closed out with trip to the new Qianmen. Qianmen is due south from Tiananmen on Beijing's central axis. The same axis that hosts Forbidden City and..drumroll please...the Bird's Nest. The Qianmen area was for centuries a famous shopping district where one could buy really anything. It did not keep up with either it's historical prominence nor Beijing's pace of modernization and much of it was bull-dozed to create the now super new, old looking street. It's quite nice and seems to fit this old section of town, at least to my foreigner eyes. It lies in stark contrast to Solana which exists in a non historical section of town and could be Anywhere, Any Country. I'm not sure which I like better, but Solana does have lots of great parking. And a Cold Stone.
Aidan coming up Qianmen lu. Lydia with her back to the gate.
A rare shot of Yang and me. Who took that photo? Was it Elisa? Nah, she was sleeping.