We spoke with the Bakers today as they were traveling back from seeing the 80 meter Buddha at Le Shan. Unfortunately the group has no internet access in Chengdu—thus the lack of blog entries. we do k now that they were picked up at the airport by their host families, and at this point they have settled into their hosts’ homes.
As far as the Beijing group is concerned, we hit the road again today to visit the Beijing Exhibition Hall, where a wonderful series of models and diagrams depict the history and architecture of the city. The Olympic models captured our interest—the Water Cube, the Bird’s Nest, and the other stadiums and venues are very cleverly designed, for example the shooting arena is built in the shape of a rifle, and the roof of the velodrome looks like a bike helmet. Later in the day, when we drove out to the Olympic site, we saw that almost everything is still under construction, which is o.k. because the official countdown clock at the exhibition hall said there are 162 days, 10 hours, 23 minutes and 42 seconds left until the opening ceremonies, and everyone we ask says “of course everything will be ready.”
Wangfujing Street was our lunch stop—I think many in the group went off to eat some American fast food with their hosts. It was only a matter of time and I think our kids did well resisting the temptation of KFC and McDonalds during the first week in China. There were shopping opportunities in the main shopping district and I think their hosts may have helped them find a few more treasures. Having our hosts travel with us each day will make tomorrow easier as the Gouldies go “home” for the weekend. There are 2000 students at this school and after morning classes and lunch on Friday the place clears out with the help of 40 (!) school buses, taxis, and parents. All will return on Sunday night and it will be fun to hear their stories from the weekend.
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