Mother's Day in Beijing

May 13

Mother’s Day….what a wonderful day.  We get up and plan to go to Ritan Park near where the Embassies are here in Beijing.  We take the metro to Yong’anli station and whoa-nellie, there is an amazing market right at the top of the metro stop.  We browse for a moment and continue on our way after purchasing a real French pastry that is completely yummy.  We amble along the fronts of the likes of the Bulgarian Embassy and then coming upon the American Embassy before arriving at the entrance to the park.  This is an amazing oasis in the middle of the huge city and it is a beautiful day to be walking through the park.   This park was first started in 1530 and was used as an altar to the sun gods.  Over time,  the park has become a gathering place for Tai Chi practice, childrens’ amusements, lush gardens and quiet places of respite.  We follow the paths until we get to an area where kids of all ages are doing arts and crafts and the kids want to join in with pottery painting and window art stencils.  We indulge them for a while and celebrate their creations before departing the park in search of lunch.  We return to the subway station/market and find a food court in the basement that serves food from any number of Asian countries:  Korea, Japan, China…etc.  We eat and then shop for a while before Paulie gets completely disgusted with our consumerism and leaves us to our retail pleasures while he returns to the hotel.  We follow soon after and all enjoy a few hours of down time before heading out for dinner.  We search out a new restaurant on a walking street not far from the hotel and have a great meal in a new venue.  We get some ice cream on the way home and settle in for a great night’s rest.