Pearl Market, Temple of Heavan, Zoo, and Practice

Well it has been a busy couple of days. I have been practicing hard in the mornings and then trying to go out in the afternoon.

So far this week I have gone to the Pearl market, Temple of Heavan and the Zoo. The pearl market was similar to the silk market. Crazy sales ladies. However the setup was a little nicer and the selection of products was different. The bottom floor has electronics the other floors soft goods and on the 4th and fifth floor the pearls. Our team manager Bob has done business with on the of stores for a number of years and they treated us great. RuPeiPei is the name of the store. They had every kind of pearl you could want. If you wanted a necklace with certain pearls they would just make it for you right their. Cody bought some simple and elegant pearl necklace and earings. I think a set was 13 dollars. No haggling.

The temple of heaven was fun to see. You really feel like you have taken a break from the city. I stood where heaven could her me. There are these rings and then one stone. Seemed like a big deal. The building were very ornate. I guess this was essentially a agricultural beaucratic center. However the main temple was awesome. Towering and intricitly detailed. China really put some work into this thing. I think it is one the of the largest wooden structures in the world. I seem to remember that it has been rebuilt several times.

i have mixed feelings about zoo's. they are sad in that the animals dont roam as they are supposed to. On the other hand it has to be better to bring the animals to the city rather than the city to the animals. Despite what ever moral qualms I had I went to the zoo in Beijing. The zoo is a 2 dollar cab ride and a 3 dollar entry fee. The zoo clearly is a little run down but their collection is astounding. Birds, cats, lemurs, pandas, tigers, elephant, rhino, hippo, and the original chicken species. overall very impressive. the enclosures were sad and the animals not very active but it was still good to see. If you are in beijing it is a definite must see and you cant beet the price. I would leave 5 hours to see it all. I am trying to get back there today to see the aquarium.

Training has been good. My plan has been 3 days on 1 day off. It felt awesome to take a day off. i felt very fresh. Today though I am tired but I feel as ready as I can be. Rob Stull fencing and pentathlon olympian from the 80's came to help me out. Tomorrow will be my last day of practice before the big event. Then time to march in opening ceremonies and get ready to fence.