After raining all day yesterday, the sun came out in full force today. I was delighted to see that Beijing has a brilliant blue sky. I have never seen it like that here. It was amazing to see the transformation of the city. You could easily see for miles. When you live in Portland or Boston or Dayton, it’s hard to appreciate how well you can see. Imagine living in Portland and not being able to see anything east of the Willamette from Washington park. If Portland had Beijing-type air, some people might not even know that Mount Hood existed!

Given the fact that it was so beautiful outside, I had to take a walk. It would have been better for my test score tomorrow to stay in and study, but when the air is clear, don't waste it! Today’s wander was not that exciting, but it was good exercise. I headed east from the university along Qinghua East road for a few miles until I ran into the Olympic Park.

A spectacular day at Olympic Park

There were lots of people strolling through the park, taking pictures and enjoying the clear day. I still wonder how the Chinese government is going to maintain the enormous park, but today it looked great. Must have been the smiling grass.

Other than that, I didn’t really see much of note. I was exhausted after three hours, though (must be getting soft). Our finals are tomorrow, so I ought to have some misery to share with you after that. Oh well, they can’t last forever. . .

One more quick thing. I was going to save this picture until I wrote about marketing in China, but I couldn’t wait. Looks like Pepsi is trying to expand its brand. . . . .

Yikes.

How will Coke respond?