Chick Magnet

OK, I think we have a winner in the Chick Magnet hat category, and it isn't even one of the original contenders. To avoid frying the top of my head during my outdoor adventures, I bought a simple Official Beijing Olympics baseball hat (reasonably priced, by Olympic standards, at 68 Yuan, about $11 CDN).

While I was walking around the Summer Palace (blog entry to come later), I was approached by several people who wanted to get their pictures taken with me, some of whom where very cute young women. I think it was probably because I am a foreigner, but I wouldn't bet against the effects of the hat.

On the other hand, I was also wearing my Olympic credential, so maybe they thought I was an Athelete?

OK, that's a bit of a stretch, but still it was odd having all of these people thinking of you as exotic.

I also had several children run up and shout "Hello" in English, before smiling and running away. I say "Nee Hao" (pronounced "knee how") in return (as this is about the only thing I have learned here), which is an informal "Hello" in Chinese (it literally means "You Go?", which I think translates as "How's it going?").