After our Great Wall plans for today fell through (don't worry -- we go tomorrow rain or shine), we set off on an adventure -- just the 5 of us because no other families wanted to come -- to find the "Soho" of Beijing -- the 798 art district, a converted warehouse district of art galleries and trendy coffee houses. Michael and I have been reading about this neighborhood, and it's in danger of being demolished for high rise apartments. Michael in particular is very interested in modern art -- so we thought we'd take a look. Some highlights in the photos were: A large Tibetan art student exhibition, some very impressive gallery space, the "terra cotta women" exhibit -- which features the feminine version of those famous icons of ancient China (see the pregnant one in the picture) a break for coffee and snacks, and the kids liked these giant "ages of Chinese man" sculptures. It was a pretty mellow outing, everyone is looking a little the worse for wear at this point.
I also went to the supermarket today to buy some snacks, and had 2 failed attempts at using my ATM card -- the realities of daily life loom as complex problems that have to be confronted constantly. On the bright side, my rudimentary Chinese is already coming along (as is my sign language) and I had to give the cab driver directions to our hotel from a nearby landmark and we made it back just fine!
