Beijing Day 5!

Meeting with the International Confucianism Association ...Wow today was an eye opener. As we entered into the conference room I immediately notice that there are not enough places to sit at the table. I find my name card on a chair against the wall. The only people sitting at the table were the "older" people. I am becoming more and more aware of the age and gender discrimination. As a young woman I am having some real issues with this.
We go down stairs to have another fancy lunch. Today we had eel (I did try it wasn't bad!) and oxen stomach (I skipped that!). Annie was not with us today she was giving an exam to her students today, so we had another interpreter. He was a theater student who has lived in the United States for about 10 years. He studied at the New England Conservatory; he lived in Boston for 5 years. We had a great conversation about theater.

We went back upstairs to change and then we were off to Yonghegong a Buddhist Temple. This is a very sacred place. There were numerous Buddha's which were all different. The smell of incenses is every where. We buy some incense and make a wish to Buddha. The largest Buddha was 18 meters above ground and 8 meters below ground, this thing was huge!

The public phones are so cool! Check out the photo.

After the Temple we went to Beihai Park, where we are told young couples go to "talk love." It is a beautiful park. After the park we had an Imperial dinner with Imperial cuisine and then off to see a show at the famous Lao She Tea House! Photos shown in blog above!