My favorite place in Beijing...the Hutongs

China was such a fascinating place, and full of so much to see.  I think I may need to go back.

We came right back from the race, showered and headed back out to see an acrobat show.
This show was incredible.  If you ever go to China, this shouldn't disappoint.

Here are 8 girls riding a bike.  And they started as one.  While they kept riding in a circle, they kept adding to the shapes they made.

Balancing on her toe, on his head!

These young girls were the most impressive.  It was kind of creepy what they could do with their bodies.

After the show we headed to the Hutongs.  This was by far my favorite part of the trip.  We loved it so much we came back the following day.  

A hutong is a traditional narrow alleyway neighborhood.  There are rows and rows of super skinny streets full of small residences.  Some of the hutongs are historically preserved , and have become more commercial.  But there wasn't a shortage of actual residences down the narrow streets.

We got up one morning at 6 so we could go and check them out while it wasn't crowded and we could see real life amongst them.  Most of the rooms, or residences have shared bathrooms and cooking areas.  Each narrow alley had a shared bathroom for residents.  It was fascinating, and walking around them felt a bit invasive that early in the morning.  People were just waking up walking down to the bathroom in their pajamas and headed to the corner bake shop for breakfast.

look how narrow some of these are!  Being there early was perfect.  Quiet, not hot yet, and empty besides the actual people that lived there

I was so ignorant to different Asian cultures before moving here.  China is SO SO different from Japan, and even Korea.  

Everything in China is red.  China uses it as a national color and it is everywhere in industry, decor, government, etc.  It is 'conducive to success or favorable or prosperous' as our guide Miley said.  In Japan its mainly used in shrines and temples, or for sacred purposes.

Red lanterns were everywhere!

they line homes and businesses and streets

In the morning the hutongs started to fill up with these delivery trucks.  I took this picture as I was squished against a brick wall standing on a tiny ledge.

This little bakery was so good we returned again the next morning early before our flight to have it again.  It was so good to eat street food as we had held off pre race.  These breads had red bean, eggplant, meats and all sorts of tasty items I had no idea what they were, some great, others not so much.

The Chinese love soy milk.  Most of the trucks we saw were delivery milk trucks.

They drink the milk with these giant fry breads that are made on every corner.

We passed several of these large boiling pots in the hutongs.  I am assuming it was food cooking for later.

and a McDonalds, of course, how comforting that can become.  

Many of these buildings they said were hundreds of years old.

we looked very touristy in our matching race shirts and selfie sticks.

We all bought them for $2...

Later that evening after a LONG day of sightseeing we went to the nightlife hutongs.  

I found the coolest Starbucks tucked back in here!

Ice Cream Roses!

the streets here were full of bars and cafes with live music

street food

but the best part of our night was riding in our rickshaw and this motorized scooter down the alleys

We got one last ride from the nicest old man.  We were trying to get a taxi ride to the hotel, but they were all trying to rip us off because it was after midnight and the trains were no longer running.  So we found this old guy who drove us a long way in his little car.  It was over 30 minutes and we laughed and giggled the whole ride home because we barely fit inside the thing.  We tipped him big time!

All 5 of us squished in this, down very busy thoroughfares and main roads.  It was the highlight to our day.  I have not laughed that hard in a very long time.