May Labor Day

The Chinese are celebrating a "golden week" for May Labor Day, as a result so are we. We have a whole week off and because AF only had three days off we stayed in Beijing while most of my co-workers left for Malaysia, US, or Taiwan. Traveling in China would be a nightmare with the crowds as we witnessed when we biked near the back of the Forbidden City (it was wall-to-wall buses and mobs of Chinese tourist).

We did spend half a day with a local guide (Tony Chen) that BF met through acquaintances. He had two apprentices with him (Katrina and Penny) as he is trying to build his business http://www.stretchaleg.com. BF and I decided to have him give us a hutong tour as something that kind of interested us to better understand the locals a little more. It was a very nice walking tour.

Below are some of the things that we saw along the way. Any one who wants to visit we know who to hook you up with to show you the town, Tony was great. So here are some of the sights that we saw with a little caption underneath on what you are seeing:
One of the many homes we visited.There is a lot of restoration happening in the hutongs and these courtyard homes. Above a craftsman is hewing a beam to be used in the restoration of a home (while he is using an ax, he did have cross cuts made with a chain saw). Racing Pigeons, now there is a profession............
The Source Courtyard Restaurant, we had heard of it. After looking at the menu we will definitely be back. An old hitching post and millstone.
Time for lunch, so Tony recommended this fusion restaurant (Luogu)
Believe it or not this is the entry way from the downstairs to the roof top for dining. Hi Penny.
Rooftop view from the restaurant.
Check out all the Chinese flags, it is Labor Day and a law that you must display your colors, how cool............
For JPM bikers, Tony used to work for REI here in China to do both road and mountain biking tours in China. Which made the conversation with him even more interesting for me. Then we ran into the local police station standard issued bike........nice blue and white