Ritan Park

Stacey, my 908 Tsinghua roommate, and I ventured to the Subway once again to explore an unseen spot of Beijing, Ritan Park.   On the way, we were stopped by a free sample of California Breeze, frozen yogurt blended with frozen fruit.  Pure Deliciousness.  We then felt obligated by its great taste to get some.  I got cranberry on the first stop and blackberry on the way home (two and half hours later).  Carrying our frozen yogurt a man on the corner stopped us again.  This time with the promise of cheap DVDs.  We should have known good things don't come within pairs.  The mysterious man led us up a series of dirtied stairs which spilled into a decaying nail salon.  There weren't any customers (for good reason, it seemed you would get a fungus if you stayed), but the man told us to sit in the felt velvet chairs as he brought out his selection.  As the cigarette in his mouth dipped he dumped ash over the cheap black suitcase he carried out.  We should have left then, but instead we stayed with our melting California Breeze as we browsed his load of this summer's blockbuster hits.  I bought Walle (which I discovered later didn't work).  Stacey's choice, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, was actually recorded but the result was a mix of English, Russian, and Spanish with a laugh track and nonsensical English subtitles that didn't match.  Rather than saying, "She doesn't like me" it read "Im a machoman."

Needless to say, we lost most of the movie in translation.   

We did make it to the park.  We found an outdoor climbing wall, young boys with their fathers fishing, and a carnival.