June 21, 2009

We let the girls relax a little bit this morning and then met Helen to go to the Forbidden City.  Bob and I were there when we adopted Zoe but it was still fun to see it again.  Zoe and Yihui were troopers but said they didn’t like it very much.  Zoe wanted to see where the Emperor slept and wanted to know all about his wives.  

We then went to Yihui’s finding spot.  I asked Helen to explain what that meant and Helen indicated she didn’t think Yihui fully understood the significance of the spot.  It was on a bench in the new out patient area of the Beijing Children’s Hospital.  It was a very busy place today when we went.  We took a few pictures so that one day Yihui can see it.  

Then we went to the “antique” market sometimes called the Dirt market or Panjiayuan market.  We know nothing is truly antique but Bob enjoyed looking.  Some of the things Bob liked would be impossible to get home and shipping cost too much so we left with nothing.  

The girls and Bob were tired so we came back to take a rest before going to the Chinese opera.  Of course as soon as they get into the hotel- they are no longer tired.  So I took both of them to the New Chinese Children’s store play area.  They chose to play in the giant sand pit for an hour.  Then we had to rush back so they could have a snack before the opera.  They had an area where you could watch the performers put on their painted faces.  Zoe & Yihui liked that a lot.  The opera may not be our taste but it was fun and well done.  The person that liked it the best was Zoe!  Yihui told Helen the faces scared her.  It was late so we rushed to get a quick bite to eat before all the restaurants closed.