Acrobat Show

As an end to a very busy day, we went to an Acrobat Show in Beijing. The Chinese are known for their Acrobatic skills and it was an enjoyable show.
There were lots of spinning plates and standing on heads.
This man changed his mask into different colors without his hands. Here it is red.
Then it was blue with a different expression. His headdress was amazing with long feathers sticking out the back.
We also saw girls doing yo-yo tricks, guys doing back flips and all sorts of tumbles, and a girl who could balance a table on her feet while laying on her back. She spun the table around and around. She also spun a large jar with a man from the audience sitting inside it. The last act was the bicycle with ten or more people on it waving fans. It was amazing.
What a great ending to a full day!

Signs

We saw some interesting signs while we were in China. This is a road sign. Hope you're not driving too fast, you might not be able to read it all!
The Olympic motto carved into a rock.
Sign outside the ride that Abby did while in Nanning. Glad there were no psychopaths or intemperate pregnant women around that day. They might have been mad that they couldn't ride!
And then there were the familiar signs. We saw this sign in the Beijing airport.
Coke has definately made it to China!! In a big way.
Love how they incorporate the wavy lines of the Coke logo in with the Chinese writing.
Even the Chinese need nice looking skin.
We ordered pizza from Papa John's. It was good. And even the Colonel has made it to Asia.
Wizzing past the Pizza Hut. We actually ate at a Pizza Hut twice in Nanning. It was a nice restaurant.
And, of course, good ole WalMart. What would we do without it? And Abby's favorite, McDonald's.

Which one is your favorite?

Olympic Stadium

Our first day in China was so jam packed with events that I never got around to posting all the pictures from that day.

After the Great Wall, we went to lunch and then drove to see the Olympic Stadium from the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. After so much climbing and walking, Abby was very tired (not to mention the travel time and lack of sleep). She fell asleep on the bus on the way to the stadium. So we had to wake her and she was not up to walking around. Plus, I forgot to get her coat before we got off the bus and it was windy and cold. Flat Panda was, once again, too cold to get out of the bag for photos.
The "Bird's Nest" as it was called during the games.
Even the walkway lights were in the same design.
We got to go inside the stadium. It was very big inside. The track and the field were covered, so we did not get to run a lap. Oh, well. We already had our exercise for the day at the Great Wall. As with all the other tourist spots we visited, there were TONS of people there taking pictures and taking pride in their nation's history and culture.
This is a sign that has the Olympic Mascots for Beijing.
Once outside the stadium, I zipped Abby up in my coat to help keep her warm. That made her happy!
Flat Panda waves from the warmth of the tour bus.

Good-bye from China

Abby and Flat Panda will be leaving China in a few hours. They are sad to go but happy to be going home. They have enjoyed their time here.

We stayed in some nice hotels and Flat Panda is glad he didn't have to stay here (the blue sign says, "Youth Hostel").
Here are Abby and her sister, Sarah walking to the restaurant for their last dinner out.
We went to our favorite American restaurant, "Lucy's."
Sarah is showing Flat Panda around.
and taking him for a little ride.
Good night, and Good-bye, Guangzhou.
For more pictures and stories, click on my mom's blog, Shaggabear.

Museum

Sunday morning, we visited a museum here in Guangzhou. I think it used to be the house for a very rich person. Some of their furniture was on display. It had huge doors that opened into a courtyard and many rooms and hallways surrounding the courtyard.
This is a very intricate bone carving. The artist starts with a camel bone and makes it into this beautiful scene.
Abby seemed to be a little bored looking at the artwork.
This piece of art was a little more interesting. That boy looks like he's in trouble.
And having a cousin around always brightens her smile!

Flat Panda seems to have a thing for trees. Maybe because he can stand up by himself in them!
This is one of the main doors to the museum. That guy looks like he's guarding the place well. I would be scared to come in if I wasn't supposed to.
Here is a bush outside the museum entrance.
Later on in the day, Flat Panda relaxed with a nice game of ping pong. The Chinese are very good at this game. Our guide beat everyone in the group.
Only a few more days until we come home. Flat Panda and Abby have enjoyed the trip, but they're glad to be coming home soon.

Noodles

The Chinese people eat a lot of noodles: fat ones, skinny ones, short ones, long ones. They love them all! Flat Panda got to try some tonight... with chopsticks!

Tomorrow we will visit a museum and a pearl market.

Another Outing, Another Park

This is the view from our hotel room on the 14th floor. There are lots of big buildings in Nanning, the capital city of the Guangxi Region. You can't really see them well in this picture, but the bridge is lined with rows of flowers. It is beautiful!
This is another view out the window. The sun was setting and I thought the water looked pretty. When we saw this pretty bridge and saw the road that ran along the water's edge, we thought it might be nice to walk to the bridge. So today, our guide took us to the pretty bridge and we walked along the path, which is a pretty park, back towards our hotel. Here is Abby on the bridge holding Flat Panda. We almost lost Flat Panda into the water as it was very windy, and Abby had accidentally let go of him. We were glad he didn't go for a swim!
And here is our hotel from the bridge. It is one of the newer hotels in Nanning and it is quite beautiful.
The bridge led to a park area that had lots of rides for children. Abby wanted to ride this carousel. When it started, it went much faster than the ones we're used to at the fair. We really had to hold onto Flat Panda!
Abby enjoyed this car ride. Flat Panda looked a little dizzy afterward.
Sarah had to hold onto Flat Panda for a while so he could rest from the rides.
We decided to take a short boat ride in a paddle boat. Flat Panda enjoyed the slow pace, but Sarah was ready to be done.
Then we started our walk back toward the hotel. The walkway was lined with palm trees and beautiful tropical flowers and plants.
Some of the pretty flowers.
A big Ficus tree.
Flat Panda wanted to climb a small Palm tree.
We finally made it back to the hotel. It was a lot of walking on a warm and humid day, and Abby was tuckered out! She took a good nap and bounced back to normal.

Tomorrow, we fly to another city. Thankfully, it is only a short 45 minute plane ride. See you from there!