March 30

We didn't move far from our own Hutong to finish filming the local block of music stores- many of the shops not only demonstrated their wares but gave us the history of the instruments, as well. 

Our next stop was the park outside of the Forbidden City, this hill was created from the excavation that created the lakes around the area.  For something like 25 cents, we encountered a wealth of performance.  Walking a few feet would bring you to a large choral ensemble singing old war songs-walking a little farther and you see Hip Hop dancing grannies. Various traditional instruments we saw hanging in the stores were brought to life by people of all ages.  Mixed among the opera and hacky-sackers, was a real, old fashioned political debate. 

We kept climbing until we got to the temple, inside you could see a huge cast Buddha and outside you could see a great view of the Forbidden City.

As if that weren't enough, we all piled in a Taxi in time to meet a Phd student studying energy use, for an interview on his campus.