Tianjin - day 6

Since today is Saturday we have the day to ourselves. We decided that this morning we would go and see what is at the beach. Beach may not be the best word to use to describe this place. Perhaps "waterfront" is better but the signs said we were at the beach. When I hear the word beach I picture sand and girls in bikini's but I didn't see any of that here. When we got to the "waterfront" the smog was even worse than it was at the hotel. The place where we ended up was actually well developed into some sort of park or resort area. They had little cruise boats giving tours and there was a little fair there as well. We decided against taking the tour since you couldn't see far enough to make it worth while. We were walking along the water front and I saw a bunch of pipes sticking up out of the water. I figure that they were probably water jets used to create some fancy water show. I was wishing they had them going when all of the sudden several jets of fire shot up. It was quite surprising and I was close enough to feel the heat. I never did get to see the water but I can imagine that at night the fire and water would make a pretty fancy show. For some reason several of the walk ways along the water were blocked off but that didn't seem to stop anyone. It seems like there are no rules around here. I decided that I wanted to see what was down the path a bit further so I just pushed open the gate that was wired shut and kept on walking. At one spot there were a bunch of people out in front of a store dancing and singing and playing drums. It was like they were celebrating the grand opening of a new store but the store didn't really look all that new. They literally had the red carpet rolled out for you. The coolest dancers were this very old couple and a little girl. The older couple obviously adored the little girl. Remember the Chinese work horse bike I showed you the other day? Well today I saw this old man giving his sweetheart a ride. It looked pretty cool. Once again, I was scared to offend anyone by taking a picture so I waited until they went by and took a picture from behind. If i'm ever going to get some real cool pictures I'm going to have to get over my fear and take the picture from in front. We walked around the water front for a while, checked out some stores , looked for a place to eat (couldn't find any place we dared to) and then went back to the hotel and ate. I was ready to give up and eat at a McDonald's but I usually try and eat the local food for at least the first week. I'll have myself a big mac next week. This afternoon we went to a shopping place close by. We wanted to go sight seeing but as I said, ten years ago this place was farmland so there really aren't any sight seeing places here. This street is closed to traffic and consists of street front shops and malls that sell nothing but watches, belts, hand bags and sunglasses. Not much else. I find it hard to see how they can all make money when they're all selling the same thing. Not only are they selling the same "types" of goods but they are the same brands. At one point along the way we came across this very fishy smell. I've gotten pretty used to fishy smells and certain types almost find appealing but this was way too much. I looked around and saw the source of the smell. This stand was selling dried shrimp and dried fish of all sizes. It looked rather nice but smelled terrible. I bought a few trinkets and then headed back to the hotel. I decided to check out the fitness room and the pool. I ran for three miles and then swam a few laps. I thought I was going to die and I was dripping so much sweat on the running machine that the track was wet. I haven't run since I left home. It sure felt good to dive into the pool though. Well tomorrow is registration for the battery conference I have come to so I'm really looking forward to that. I think I'm going to watch a movie on TV and head for bed. Last night I watched "Snakes on a Plane". What a dumb show. I'm sure glad I didn't waste my money to watch that at the theaters.