Hills

Today we took a trip to a place called the Fragrant Hills (香山公园). It is kind of like a park, but it has some old temples..or rather the foundations of some old temples…most of the temples were apparently burned by the French and English during an invasion. Parks in Beijing tend to be a little different than parks in the US, but they are very similar to parks in India. The parks are unbelievably crowed. Walking toward the entrance to the park we were part of a long river of people flowing through the gate. All the paths in the park were full of people walking, sitting, eating, talking, sleeping, or standing. It was intense, but beautiful. The guide book says fall is the time to go because all the leaves turn red, but it also says the parked gets mobbed with people in the fall and not to go. I cannot imagine the park being mobbed if that wasn’t what I say today. Either way, we had a good time and I got some good bug pictures. As well as me on a mythological beast turtle thing. I get on the train at 430pm today.