Za Ji, Yi He Yuan

So I lied. Last weekend, I didn't have time to fully update my blog. Keeping up with a blog is tougher than I expected, especially with PiB's heavy workload... but I'm doing my best so here we go...

杂技, za ji, is one of the most absolutely stunning facets of Chinese culture. The show opened with an amazing acrobatic showing, with small Chinese girls (no more than 7 or 8) being thrown through the air. At one point, one of the girls was standing on a male performer's shoulders, who was standing on another male performer's shoulders, who was standing on another male performer's shoulders! (That girl was probably 20 feet in the air)! The most impressive act, by far, was the running/bicycle act. At first, I laughed when 8 performers rolled out on the staged riding bicycles in a circle, but at the end when 16 performers were piled onto one bike, my jaw had dropped to the ground. Wow.

Chinese Acrobatics

In other news, PiB took us to 颐和园, aka the summer palace, last weekend. Paddle boating was fun, but unfortunately, while racing another, my camera fell out of my pocket and into the lake... On a lighter note, weaving through the 17 arches of the 17 arch bridge 十七孔桥 was fun. To get through the smaller arches, we had to literally rock the boat. The Summer Palace, even on a hazy day, still was breathtaking (I think I may be running out of breaths to be taken because there are so many beautiful places in Beijing!) Now, I will let the pictures do the talking.

Paddleboating

Weaving through the Arches!

Dragon Statue

The Palace

So, I think my English is getting worse, the longer I am here in Beijing. This may/may not be a good thing. Time is flying by so quickly here, I already know I am going to miss China, but then again Yale isn't such a bad place to be.

Dumpling Count: 156