Beijing

Friday afternoon we took a night train to Beijing. We arrived at 7 am for our whirlwind weekend, found our hostel (The Happy House) and headed off to the Olympic Green to check out the sites for the Olympics. We had ordered tickets online to see some of the preliminary games but showed up 3 hours late and a day early. :) Alas we were not thwarted! Rather, Beth and Brad weren't thwarted. They headed back to the Olympic area to get tickets for the night show while Katie and I headed off to a big band dance, part of China's first lindy hop exchange! So here is the only part of the Olympics I really got to see: the bird's nest (main stadium). We danced the night away and roasted in a non-airconditioned venue. There were people from all over: Hawaii, France, South Korea, Vietnam. We even met up with some old friends of Katie's for their first swing experience.















Sunday we picked up a Starbucks for breakfast, packed a lunch from Subway (Starbucks AND Subway!!!!) and headed to the Great Wall for another day of dancing. It was fun to dance on the Great Wall, get a dose of lindy in, and be with some of my best pengyous. It was so fun to have friends there to support my love of dance.
















Brad and Beth try to deny their dancing skills, but I know the real story...
















Katie has become addicted to swing. I was so proud; as a newbie she got out there and asked strangers to dance...no small feat! It was definitely a swingin' good time!


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