{"id":1285,"date":"2014-04-08T09:32:59","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T02:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/?p=1285"},"modified":"2014-04-08T09:32:59","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T02:32:59","slug":"a-little-intrigue-while-beijing-blooms-4614","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/?p=1285","title":{"rendered":"A little intrigue while Beijing blooms, 4\/6\/14"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judy had a crown on one of her teeth come loose Friday afternoon.\u00a0 She called the dentist, and they scheduled an appointment for her this afternoon.\u00a0 We taxi together.\u00a0 The last time she tried to find the dentist, she had a difficult time finding the building, and then the office inside the building was also hard to find.\u00a0 It\u2019s in the same building where I get my haircut, so I tag along to make sure she arrives without incident.<\/p>\n

Once she\u2019s settled in the office, I walk down the street to the Marriott to swim.\u00a0 It\u2019s been over a week since I last swam, and I\u2019m not exactly looking forward to it.\u00a0 This is \u201cembassy row\u201d, so as I walk by the French embassy, I notice a Chinese guy, in plainclothes, leaning up against the fence.\u00a0 He seems to be watching the street pretty intently.\u00a0 As I get closer, I hear a radio crackle, and see a walkie hanging on his hip.\u00a0 At the gate for the French embassy, the Chinese military guard (there\u2019s one or more at the entrance to each embassy) has a radio, and I can hear it\u2019s the same channel as the plainclothes guy I passed as I approached.<\/span><\/p>\n

Further down the street, near the American Embassy, I pass another Chinese passerby, intently watching an armored truck cruising the area.\u00a0 He\u2019s wearing a gray sweatsuit.\u00a0 Across the street, I notice two other guys, also in gray sweatsuits, standing at either end of the American Embassy (as well as the Chinese military guard).\u00a0 They outwardly look nonchalant, but with closer scrutiny, I can see they\u2019re not taking their eyes off the street.\u00a0 I\u2019m obviously curious.\u00a0 Maybe the new American Ambassador, Baucus, is out riding bikes, or is going for a neighborhood walk or run.\u00a0 Or maybe the plainclothes guys are making sure no one tries to defect into one of the embassies (I\u2019ve got a big imagination).<\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t wait around to find out what might be going on.\u00a0 The swimming pool is waiting.\u00a0 After the swim, I head home.\u00a0 Judy and I arrive about the same time.\u00a0 It\u2019s a gorgeous afternoon, so we walk around the apartment complex taking in the sights.\u00a0 It\u2019s spring in Beijing and things are beginning to bloom.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0910\"<\/a> \"IMG_0915\"<\/a> \"IMG_0914\"<\/a> \"IMG_0913\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judy had a crown on one of her teeth come loose Friday afternoon.\u00a0 She called the dentist, and they scheduled an appointment for her this afternoon.\u00a0 We taxi together.\u00a0 The last time she tried to find the dentist, she had … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1286,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions\/1286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}