The Family O' Blevins

The Temple of Heaven park is a few blocks from the Pearl Market. It's a welcome reprieve from cement, glass, and steel. And mysterious stenches. It's a haven of trees and grass, and it smells good! It cost a few yuan to get in. A stereo played near the entrance where a bunch of people were dancing. Old couples were shuffling, and a few ladies were jammin' by themselves, all to different beats. People singing opera wandered around the paths, and people played instruments under the long pavilions.
We found the entrance to the Temple of Heaven area, which we had to pay more to get into (we've found that this is a common tactic). But no one was at the ticket booth! We rounded up a few girls who worked there talking to each other. "Can we get some tickets?" "The temple closes at 5!" "But it's 4." "But it closes at 5." "It's 4!" "Well, you can buy tickets at the ticket booth." "There's no one there." "Really? [Something I didn't understand.]" "Uhm... there isn't anyone there." "Hey! Come out of there, someone wants to get a ticket!" She went up and knocked on the door and a lady sold us tickets.
The pictures tell you the story about the inside. We bought a ten yuan kite while we wandered around, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. On the way home, a gaggle of teen girls came up and fawned over Chloe, shrieking and jumping up and down. One of them held her. When we got off the subway, they screamed with sorrow. Literally. We think her aversion to being held by other people was born there. People are seriously baby crazed here. It's endearing. They only get one chance!