Ice Skating at Shichahai Rink

When I asked the girls what they wanted to do on the weekend, Carly said, "Ice Skating". I thought, "What a great idea!" When I researched all of the skating rinks in Beijing, I decided on Houhai park. Carly and I have been to Houhai and we love it. It is Beijing's most popular outdoor skating spot is not only enjoyable for ice, but also the people watching. The girls were extremely excited to skate on a real lake. They have never skated on a real lake.

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When we got off the Subway, the food shops instantly stood out to us. Camilla got glazed strawberries and Carly got the longest french fries I had ever seen. Then, we walked down all of the charming Hutongs on our way to the lake. Camilla said, "I love this part of Beijing" It was so cute to see the girls chomping down their food and getting candy and ketchup all over.

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When we arrived at the rink, we figured out that there were many different sections. Some sections were full of ice chairs. Others were full of ice bicycles. There is even an ice slide. The girls really wanted to ice skate so we went to that section.

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I figured out how to pay and rent us some skates. I had to figure out how to translate, "Ice skate" in Chinese (liu bing xie)

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We all had a great time because it was such a huge area to skate on. We are all used to the indoor, artificial rinks. This was a a real lake and it was huge. There were professionals out there and hockey players. There were also people that didn't know how to skate at all. I had so much fun people watching.

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The girls played so well together. They played tag and I heard them laughing like crazy. I did some dancing with them. We skated for about 4 hours.

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When we were done skaing, we saw Beijing light up at night. We walked by a toy store and I bought the girls a game. They got to play it at the store and I thought it looked fun.

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I then bought them street food. They ate a burrito and a pudding filled chocolate croissant. When we got back home, they were still hungry so I got them soup at our normal restaurant. A little old man, who is an employee at the restaurant, came by and sat and watched the girls. We have known him for a while because we are regulars at the restaurant. He smiled and laughed with the girls. It brought joy to him to see 2 little while girls laughing and playing. I am so happy to have both of my girls together again!


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