What is 36 degrees Celsius in Fahrenheit?

Hot.  It got to 97 degrees F yesterday in Beijing.

We went to the Yonghegong Lama Temple and met our friends and had lunch at a vegetarian buffet restaurant favored by Tibetan monks.   The kids did okay considering it was so hot and also incense-smoky at the Temple.  They all bought prayer flags and fans across the street and put the latter to good use.

Yonghegong Temple

and then onto Jingshan Park.  The temple at the top of this human-made hill, the highest point in BJ, is lined up such that looking South one sees the Forbidden City

 

and looking North one sees the Drum Tower.  Lined up beyond is the Bell Tower.  There's a compass painted on the terrace indicating North.

The view of Beijing from here is spectacular and one can see and feel the ancient alongside the brand, brand new.  Forbidden city rooftops and shiny highrises.  This is Beijing to me.  The Maserati on the street in the same block as the hunched over guy pedaling his bike ducked down under his load of recyclable flats of cardboard.  Beijing 2012.

Out the West gate leads to Beihai Park with a huge willow-lined lake.  We rode a long tailed boat on a small portion of the lake, cooling off a little and watching the storm clouds gather.

We were nearly an hour away from home with traffic and it took just about that long to even catch a taxi so by the time we got back to our apartment for pizza and slumber party, the girls and I were totally exhausted and cranky.   After pizza the girls were raring to go and had a great, late, slumber party.  Unfortunately, they also got up at 6 after going to sleep close to 10.   The parents, our friends, came to collect them this morning and  after setting up some booby traps and pranks in my bedroom, inviting us in for a snack of rice, mixed with chocolate, water and peanuts and served with a knife, they took off to explore Chaoyang Park a bit more.   We're having some quiet blogging/reading/sewing time before heading over there ourselves for a bit more 90-something degree Beijing fun.