Day 2 in China

After a so-so breakfast buffet at our boutique hotel this morning (Friday) we checked out and after a brief debacle with our taxi driver, eventually pulled up at the Inner Mongolia Grand Hotel.  They let us check in early (1130am) and after a brief rest we headed back out into the city (very smoggy today and only about 12 degrees Celsius).  

We took a cab to the Temple of Heaven, which is actually a conglomerate of awesome old buildings in a humongous park.  We saw people doing Tai Chi, babies urinating as their parents held them (most of their pants have a hole in the bottom for easy access), and hundreds of tourists checking out the sights.  I finally found postcards and stamps so hopefully I can get these in the mail ASAP ;)

Entrance to the Temple of Heaven

Imperial Hall of Heaven

Inner courtyard of the hall...gorgeous!

East Annex building

This lady actually tried to break down the 70 year old door...

Where they would sacrifice a live cow before the harvest...

Apparently when you stand around the Temple of Harvest you can hear your echo from end to end

This is where the Emperor used to stand to speak to the troops

We were tired after so much walking and again tried to catch a cab back to our hotel but after much consideration of the map and after I was already sitting in the backseat of the cab this driver shook his head, said "NO!" and walked away.  Disappointed we started walking back but were only about 10 minutes into our 1 hour walk back when 2 pedicab guys pulled up and offered us a ride for 30 RMB.  We each hopped in one and had a wild ride for about 15 minutes...

Then the pedicab drivers pulled over and held out their hands, asking for 300 RMB per person (about $50 each)!  We refused to pay and offered them 175 RMB instead, telling them we had agreed to 30 RMB and that was all the money we had.  After much standing around and gesturing they eventually agreed and took our money and we got out of there as fast as possible...sketchy!

We then tried to grab a bite to eat and a bathroom in this Chinese mall but realized there was absolutely no English and it was all hotpot (which has a complicated ordering process) so we moved down the street to the Pizza Palace, where we scarfed down a TsingTao beer, a Green Tea float (awesome), Potato Skins and a Pepperoni pizza (yeah not very authentic, but really good)... all for $14 USD!

We are hoping to find some Friday night action at the night market later on...