Hutongs and Karaoke

Day 27

We woke early, or early for us anyway, in an attempt to beat the Beijing heat, with a forecast of 95 degrees and humid we wanted to do as much as possible before the hottest part of the day. Donna said that she'd pick us up after she dropped Ray at summer school camp, a four day thing that he needed to go to because the teachers at his new middle school said so.

Breakfast was golden brick bread, which the kids love, golden brick bread with chocolate, which 0they love even more, yogurt, puffed barley from Tibet, and eggs. Zachary came with us but the other boys were asleep. Donna came at 8:00, having decided that Ray could make it to school on his own but it still took us until 8:30 to get ready.

We went to a couple of hutongs, areas of Beijing that have old single story buildings and narrow roads, dating back centuries. There are still people living there but the main road through is all tourist shops and places to eat.

Zachary was dragging and sleep deprived so, after we took an electric version of a pedicab around a lake I took Zachary back home, figuring I'd feed him and the other kids and then get him to nap. Unfortunately, when I got there the other kids had already eaten and were playing video games. A nap was no competition for video games with other children. I napped.

That evening, at about 5 we set out for Karaoke, which they call KTV. We took three subway lines, walked a bit, and entered a building full of stalls selling clothing, cell phone accessories, appliances, and so forth, like a giant flea market. It was very much the opposite of the upscale malls we have been in so often the last few days. We went up escalator after escalator, the fifth floor had food, the sixth floor had a huge arcade with more lights and buzzers than a Vegas Casino. I was particularly impressed with a game that had a full electronic drum kit and appeared to be actually teaching a real skill.

Bill paused, asked somebody for directions, and we headed to the back of the arcade. We went through a small gray door, marked exit and found ourselves in a dimly lit stairwell with bare concrete steps. Andrea commented that she felt like we were in a Harry Potter movie and would soon emerge onto a hidden street. Two floors up we took an unmarked door and emerged someplace magical. The lobby was two stories of elegant marble with cool 3 dimensional mirrors on two walls and colorful lights hanging from the ceiling. We were guided upstairs to a Karaoke room, with leather benches, tables, disco lights, and computers. We were given cards with 60 Yuan load on them to buy food with. I was aghast at the huge amount allotted to the meal, but taken out of the Chinese perspective it was less than $10.

We ate and sang Karaoke until 10. Then we headed home in taxis, Zachary asleep on his brothers' shoulders.

Tomorrow we head home. I'm ready for it. The hardest part will be leaving Zachary.