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Ni Hao!

I've officially been here a whole week. Wow. How did that fly by so quick??

This morning I woke up to a nice surprise - blue sky!!! 

Isn't that a difference from the view on day one? The pollution level was very low and there was a nice breeze. The perfect day to visit Hou Hai lake and some of the Hutongs around it. It was also my friends last day here after her 6 week stint so we had to get an early start. 

Took the subway again, I'm getting the feel for it. It's a really good and cheap way to get around, costing less than a dollar for a ride anywhere on the line. And you get to see the local flavor such as: 

Awesome mullet/rat tail she's got! 

The subways may be crowded but they're super clean and there's visible security everywhere. Way better than say, the Toronto subway which is dirty and I get asked if I have any drugs (true story from last time I was in TO!) 

The Hutongs were really nice and lots of shops and food. Sadly all those pictures are on my camera, not the phone. From the Hutongs we ended up at HuHai lake: 

Really a gorgeous area, lots of restaurants and bars. You can rent a paddle boat or even go for a swim (thanks ill pass on the swimming...) 

Tomorrow I'm going on a bike tour of the sites, so I'm sure ill have a ton to report. 

Random futurama graffiti?

And of course, COTD. Which comes in cupcake form

(Is that cheating? Probably.. More cookies to come, I promise)