Why You Shouldn't Take Photos of Movie Stars

6/19

Oh right.  Today.  Well, today was the day before Father's Day so I decided to pretty much stay in bed all day and then drink myself to death as much as possible.  No more comments.

6/20

So today was my day to go to the Forbidden City.  I had to do my laundry, seriously, so I gave that to the people at the hostel and had to walk around in my dress all day.  It's not actually that short- it goes almost to my knees- but since I didn't wear shorts for ten years (13-23) I still feel uncomfortable in anything shorter than capris.  Anyway, it was a bit disappointing in general.  I enjoyed walking under the famous portrait of Mao, and I could say the place was impressive in scale, but it seemed to lack character or much beauty.

Due to this fact, I didn't spend as much time there as expected, though I had to take some extra time to pose with random Chinese tourists who seem to love me.  I had this experience a bit while on the Great Wall- because so many of the tourists in China are from within the country and don't see a lot of white people so I'm so strange oddity.  This is perfectly fine, but it does start to feel weird.  I'd always imagined that if I were a movie star it would be better if people took surreptitious photos of me so I wouldn't have to deal with them, but now, having been in a somewhat similar position, it isn't.  Basically, it comes down to the fact that no one will pretty much ever be able to take a picture of you without your knowledge- trust me, I don't care how secret you think you're being, it's obvious, and so it becomes an imposition.  Even it you have to respond only by ignoring them, some response is still required so it feels a lot better if they just ask, though of course, you'll agree.

Anyway, afterwards, I headed over to Jianshan park, which was a bit of a climb, but lovely.  Some guy hung himself there.

6/21- Left for Xi'an.