Wed Sept 17

Weather

• Cloudy 27 degrees, not as hot as other days but still up there with the humidity

Walk to JingShan Park and around Beihai Lake Park

• Stop at a pharmacy type store and get a tensor bandage for my ankle. So far so good. Thought it would be hard to find. The concierge offered to get one but we figured we would try it ourselves. We found the store, right around the corner from the hotel and across from a hospital. There were several tensor bandages right there. Easy peasy!

• We then walked to Jingshan Park. Along the way we walked through a street where the middle is like a wide boulevard with trees and flowers and a nice path. This is a large hill man made from the material from Beihai Park and the moat around the Forbidden City. At the entrance to the park there were many huge water filled vessels with water lilies. At the top is a temple which is along the center line of the city. We got a beautiful view of Beijing. The city is very flat so even a small hill gives a great view. A sweet little old lady stopped to talk to us and asked us about our trip to Beijing. This was a good test for Gerry’s new ankle problem – going down steps was a challenge but overall SUCCESS.

• and around Beihai Lake Park. Just outside the park there was a small market. These seem to be all over outside of the hutongs. One guy had a couple of birds in cages and a cricket in a cage. This is another beautiful park. This one surrounds a lake where you can rent a boat and paddle around. There are also some old buildings with lots of history. People were playing music and dancing and playing with their hacky sacks just like at the temple of heaven.

Paralympic Closing Ceremonies

• After our last visit to the Olympic Green we decided to leave early and rely on the subway. We left the hotel at 4:00 and made it into the Olympic venue at about 5:00. The security to get into the venue was quite strict, everyone was photographed and ticket scanned. It seemed the locals had to show ID as well.

• We went to McDonald’s for supper. Yes, I know going to McDonald’s seems like a lame thing to do but it really the only food available on the Green. There was only one McDonald’s outlet on the Green but it’s huge, someone said 2000 seats, the biggest in the world! When we were eating our supper out on the grass I’m sure I saw some undercover agent guy taking pictures of the crowd. What will the government do with all this data they collect?

• We made the long trek back to the Bird’s Nest. Getting in was easy, no lineups what a treat!

• The Closing Ceremonies were absolutely terrific. Everyone got a bag with a bunch of stuff in it to use during the ceremony. Paralympic Flag, Chinese Flag, flashlight, whistle and other nic nacks. The stadium was quite warm but the time seemed to fly by. People were cheering and doing the wave before the ceremony started. Everyone was in a terrific mood and the energy filled the stadium. We were in the top tier only two rows from the edge. This gave us a great vantage point to see the whole field and see the overall movement. We really owe Pat for getting us these tickets as it may be a once in lifetime experience. (later in the week we had a chance to buy him a beer or two!).