Day 8

I was so busy over the weekend I didn't have a chance to blog. I must say I tried to do as much as possible. The size of Beijing is roughly 20 times bigger than NYC and has 2.5 more times people. To say I am tired from exploring is an understatement.We started by going to the silk market which was one of Winter's places she wanted me to go. Very nice. It was chill when we went.

We then headed down to the Temple of Heaven area and went to the markets. We went to the jewel market across from the pearl market. The had ultra nice stuff. 

 We then had the experience of pearl market. To say they were aggressive is an understatement.

 While at the pearl market you must look at pearls. Here is some river and ocean pearls.

 We then headed to the Dongcheng area for a cooking class. The Hutong Culture center is in a hutong which is like a maze. The 2 I have been in look similar.

 Before the class, we found a place with beer! I had a Dogfish head barleywine. The weird thing is I only paid $2 more for it here.

 I took a Xiao Long Boa class. It's a dumpling with soup inside of it. Sophie was our teacher and she was awesome. Making them is frustrating but worth it. The soup part is made from pigskin jelly. The innards are pork.

 After a beer at Panda Brewing, we headed over to Taikoo Li Sanlitun to the world's largest Adidas store. There was also a hotel all lit up. It had the feel of NYC with all the people and all the lights. It also had tons of bikes.