Around Dongying

Pictures of the courtyard at school. The hall way behind the sculpture is where all the other foreign teachers live.

Inside our favorite mom and pop restaurant.

A bike that sells pets!

The square in West Dongying.

Dongying has it's own space needle. It's our reference point to our school and apartment, which are near the tower.

Would you like a caged grasshopper?

Tons of ice cream bars to choose from on a hot day!

The pet and plant market.

Fish and bamboo.

They are sooooo noisy!

What's a pet market without loose chickens?

Tons of dogs for sale. You can buy them full grown.

Tons of little puppies! I always try to give them some love! Don't worry, I wash my hands later....mom. :) These little guys reminded me of Chara when she was their age. 

Kites! People love flying kites in China. We have seen the coolest kites here. At night people even fly lit up kites.

We rarely see dogs on leashes here. Crazy Chara is the only one on a leash.

The dogs just walk along side their owners. 

And wander around playing with other dogs, like these two.

Loose leaf tea.

Teacher's Day! Our school had a big assembly and a lunch.

My Co-Teacher, Dorris.

Our school's headmaster and vice headmaster. Mr. Leo annnnnd Mr. Leo. :) They took us out to dinner our first night in Dongying.

Two of our coworkers, Josh and Matt.

The guys holding their Teacher's Day roses. We also got a huge box of Asain pears. 

You know you will loose, Voldemort!

The square at night.

Two giant dogs. On leashes!! like Chara!

At nice restaurants you receive your dishes like this, all wrapped up. It costs 1 yuan but ensure that your dishes are clean! Restaurants send the dishes to a company, who cleans them, and packages them like so.

Doesn't look that impressive but let me tell you, this stuff, gung bao ji ding, is amazing! It's chicken, peanuts, peppers, cucumber and carrots! Delish!

Egg fried rice. Dan Chao Fan!

Beijing

We had a great time in Beijing! We ate delicious food, stayed at an awesome hotel and did a few touristy things. 

We took a Tuk Tuk ride (a ride on the back of a bike type thing) because our hotel was only a mile or two down the street from where we were. We thought we were going straight to our hotel, but it turns up we somehow got on a night tour of the city Tuk Tuk ride. We were freaked out the whole time, confused about why our 2 minute ride home, was taking an hour, so I didn't get any pictures. When he stopped he said it was 400 yuan! I was so freaked out (I thought we were being kidnapped or something!) and so ready to get off the thing, I just told Zachary to pay it!

We found a famous Beijing Duck Restaurant across the street from our hotel. It was full of foreigners, everyone eager to taste Beijing's famous roast duck.

It was delicious! They carve the duck right at your table and give you small tortilla type things, with veggies, to wrap it in. 

I had to have my Starbucks! Especially because there aren't any in Dongying, or any true coffee shops for that matter. Don't worry though, we bout 5 bags and a french press, so we'll be set for a month, or two! :)

We checked out the famous Pearl Market, where you buy tons of designer knock offs and real pearls.

Lots of foreigners were there, haggling for the best price, a must in China.

You can also buy tons of silk at the Pearl Market.

And lots of Chinese souvenirs. 

We decided to take this little thing home. But we learned our lesson! Agree on a price before hand! 

The things was so tiny! We squeezed into the back.

Electric bus.

We had Subway at the Beijing Bus Station.

We also went to the Beijing acrobats which was lots of fun! We highly recommend it!