Ex-er-cise...eggs-are-sides...for bacon!

McD's was just fancy like that!

I have a dirty little secret to confess. While in China, we ate at McDonald’s more frequently in one week than we had in the past year. It was only for breakfast that we did this, but as a dietitian (my “real-world” profession) I still kind of felt like a big fat hypocrite when we were there.

What is this delightful breakfast you make, good sir?

Hot and fresh off the street!

So after discussing some local breakfast options with fellow tourists we had met at the Great Wall, we ventured away from the red and yellow sign and towards a local food cart to try the Chinese breakfast options. We found our first food cart rather quickly and after ordering we were left with just three words that kids are still using these days: Oh. Em. Gee. Whatever this pancake/egg/wafer/spice/burrito-shaped thing was we had purchased was too good to be true. Then we bought coffee and Chinese doughnuts (which, we believe, far exceed the quality of Korean doughnuts) and we headed off for more local adventures.

First plan: take the subway and go to the Temple of Heaven. Now if I have one recommendation for you, should you choose to go to Beijing, it is, take the subway! It is simple to navigate. Maps and announcements are in English and Chinese. And it usually costs less than $2.00 per trip to get to almost any destination in the city. Sure, it could be crowded at some times and you may have to re-assess what you normally consider “personal space,” but it’s still worth what little effort it takes to figure out.

An impromptu concert, apparently.

When we got inside the gates of the Temple of Heaven, but before reaching the temple itself, we encountered quite a sight. From what I perceived, it was a playground for adults. We saw a paved courtyard area filled with various pieces of built-in exercise equipment such as high bars, monkey bars, and ladders. And this place was packed. Adults of all ages were in the courtyard just working out. Have you ever seen a 60+ year old man with a 6-pack do continuous push-ups? ‘Cause I have. And outside of the circus, have you seen a person rotate around a high bar so many times you thought you might vomit? Yup, seen that too.

Do any of you bros even lift?

Well, we finally did make it to the Temple of Heaven, despite the many distractions on the way there. Kind of cool that it was built as a place to worship to heaven for a bountiful harvest. And kind of cool that it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site too.

When the local tourists want to take a picture with the American tourist, you smile and nod.

Strolling through the lovely temple grounds

Next on the agenda: find our way to the Pearl Market. This place is really just a mall with exceedingly expensive items on each floor. I don’t think I’ve ever heard “Hey lady, you want handbag? Louis Vuitton? Michael Kors?” so many times in one day. But the floor with the pearls (sorry, you do have to pass through the handbag floor to get there) was pretty great. We learned a thing or two about the qualities of pearls, picked a strand for a customized necklace, plus we grabbed a few pairs of earrings for dirt-cheap prices.

I'll bead in my happy place.

It was like a mix-n-match game! But prettier and more expensive.

I like shiny things.