It wasn’t raining on October 5th but it certainly wasn’t a bright sunny day by any means. Air quality wasn’t what I would call  good as it had a white, hazy look to everything in the distance.

All I knew of today’s plan was were going to The China Open to watch tennis with tickets Lucille and Curtis had acquired from a manager at Element Fresh. It pays to be regulars.

We headed to the subway as a usual start to adventure.

Seems pretty quiet this morning

We were heading to the Bell and Drum Towers via the Yu’er Hutong. In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences.

Just a little busier than the subway.

Not as many interesting things to see here as 798 but some stuff for sure.

Either that is a scrawny Smurf or a big blue rat.

Old meet new

Map makes it look so organized

Man selling paper sculptors

The Bell tower came into view and I realized that meant there would be some stairs.

Continue reading →