Things have been quiet since I got back from the conference and the trip to the wind farm. I saw most of the touristy things last week, so I am killing some time this week before my flight to Mumbai on Saturday. I went to the Temple of Heaven Park yesterday (Tuesday), and the Beijing Zoo today to see the Giant Pandas. Both were worthwhile--Temple of Heaven not for the temples per se, but for the manicured, expansive park surrounding it that provided a welcome urban oasis, and the zoo for the ride in a luggage-cart-attached-to-a-bike that I took from the subway station. The Pandas just sat in a corner and hid and ate bamboo...not exactly the most exciting animal to watch, but they sure can eat bamboo.
My hostel, which I've always liked a lot, has been even better this week. Although I'm running short on movies they have that I want to watch, there is a PUPPY here this week! He's a year old, so sort of on the border betwen puppy and dog, but he definitely acts like a puppy--he loves to nibble and jump on you. His name is Pee Pee, and he is very soft and fun to pet when I can get him to stop trying to eat me.
The Summer Palace is the last "touristy" thing in Beijing for me to see. I will need to take a taxi, because it is in a relatively remote place of Beijing far from subway stations. I didn't do it today because the pollution was really, really, really bad. I just checked, and the API rating today has been up to 469...for reference, anything above 200 is considered "severe," and the scale stops at 500. The forecast for downtown LA today is in the 50s. Hopefully it will be better Thursday and Friday.
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