Friday May 25

Our schedule puts us in downtown Beijing to meet with kids who have graduated from the Bethel pre-school orphanage to another location where they have learned some life skills and are a bit more independent. No bus was available and only 9 of us were going to meet with 9 kids, take them swimming and then out for lunch at McDonald
 ’t connect well with where we were going, so off in 3 taxis to downtown Hilton hotel to wait for the kids to arrive. When they did, it was discovered that their bathing suits had been forgotten, so there was another waiting period as we interacted with the children in the lobby, learning their names and letting them get familiar with us. They are aged 9-12. The hotel staff were getting a bit perturbed with the level of noise and some guests were a bit put off, but the kids were oblivious to the looks and we took our cue from them. Eventually the swimsuits arrived and we overloaded the elevator, so we split into 2 groups and arrived at the third floor for our swim. It was great fun and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the water. At 1 o’clock it was time to get showered and dried off. I don’t know how they do it, but these blind kids can pick out their own clothing from a pile on the bench. They find their own shoes and put them on. All that done and the change rooms cleaned up, we were off to McDonald’s across the street. Twenty-four of us was a crowd and we soon took over the restaurant. Back to the hotel lobby where we parted company, the children catching their bus and the 9 of us catching taxis to the downtown market (again). Matthew found the skinny jeans he had been looking for, 1 pair fire engine red and the other sky blue, plus a little gift for his mom. He has enjoyed bartering and got some good deals in the market.
We started off with a taxi to go a kilometer to the subway (MTR), got tickets for 2 yuan each (about 35 cents) and within an hour we were downtown. The last station didn
 ’t at the hotel were the 3 pairs of glasses that were supposed to have been delivered which meant a number of phone calls to track them down. That saga continues tomorrow, the day before we are supposed to leave here!
End the shopping trip at a coffee bar, regroup, and off we go to catch the trains back to our hotel in Fangshun. It was only a kilometer from the drop-off station, so Matthew and I decided to hike from the station to the hotel. It was early evening and the sidewalk market was heating up. We passed two plazas where small crowds were line-dancing or performing Tai Chi exercises. A couple of stops for room snacks and we were back. What wasn’s.