i keep sneezing.

so it poured down rain last night and it was still raining this morning. so gross! but there were umbrellas everywhere. i have never seen so many umbrellas before. the rain didn't seem to keep anyone indoors. in fact, i think there were even more people out and about because it was much cooler outside in the rain.

we (me, brittany, katelyn, jasmine, ryan, and fu) met in the lobby at 9am and took the metro to tienamen again so we could visit the forbiden city.  it was huge! and beautiful. and i felt like i was in a movie. definitely worth the money and walking. we found this booth selling art by art students at a local university. i got two paintings, of course one for mom :) it was also fun to watch other people. it is like a game to find as many people that look like you as possible. i saw a whole group of blonde girls! i think it was a sports team cause they were all wearing the same thing. i have never been stared at so much in my life. so many double takes, it is almost creepy.

we walked around the forbidden city until around 2 then took the metro to the pearl market. it is a five story building with booths and you are supposed to barter the price down. we started on the first floor which had electronics and gadegets like that. i wanted a watch since i don't actually look at my phone very often here. the first place i stopped to look at the watches, the girls selling to me kept grabbing my arm and wouldn't let me leave! they know as soon as i walk away, i can find the same things at the next booth. i finally got away from them by just pulling my arm away. so i go a few booths down and find the same watches. they told me 200 RMB and i said 30. they finally said ok after i walked away a few times.(remember 7 RMB = 1 dollar) so i got a fake gucci watch for less than $5.

the next floor has fake name brand bags, purses, wallets, luggage, clothes, etc. as soon as i walked in the door, this woman grabs my face and says "you are so cute! i like you. where are you from?" etc. i'm just too nice of a person to not answer her. she wanted me to come to her booth. they are so aggressive!! i'm just glad she didn't pinch my cheeks. the third floor had pearls and i knew i wanted some of those so i asked kately how much i should pay for a string of pearls. she said around 30 RMB. i had 100 left, so i just picked one and said i would pay 100 for three strings of pearls. then i noticed this sign they had up saying "Christ is the head of this house" so cool!! the girl was really nice and actually made the strings into necklaces for me. i was then out of money so i walked around with the others some more. the fourth and fifth floors had REALLY nice jewelry so we didn't spend any time up there.

it was a full day of sightseeing and i am exhausted. i'll probalby head to bed early tonight. not sure what i'm doing tomorrow yet, but i'm definitely sleeping in.