It’s hard to know just what to expect when you travel to a foreign country, but what we expected to see in China oftentimes turned out to be just the opposite of what we saw!

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge focuses on the word UNEXPECTED, and our first weekend in Beijing’s Financial District at The Westin brought out many unexpected sights.  Perhaps it’s because we thought China was mostly rice paddies and people laboring in the fields wearing pointy hats.  Or perhaps we just hadn’t done our homework.  But what we saw in Beijing was not unlike what we could see in any big city in America — and quite unexpected.

First, on a stroll the night before we departed the city, we saw children taking a hockey class right downtown in an open plaza.  Totally different from where lessons are given in Knoxville, Tennessee — usually in a rink.  But it worked for them, and families gathered ’round the kids just like moms and dads do in America!

Second, we took our last stroll through the district the next morning before boarding the bus for Xian.  Unexpected sights?  Restaurants we have at home right here in Beijing!

Not only that, we passed women wearing Western attire. Unexpected once again!

Luxury cars parked near The Westin were also unexpected, some with drivers waiting for passengers.

And several of these little bubblicious cars parked anywhere they pleased, or so it seemed.  Like this one parked on the sidewalk.

Street cleaners were out in full force, and several agreed to let us photograph them at work.  And do they ever work!  Clean streets in record time. (Loved the broom as well as the protective attire.  Smart.)

Last, we noted this delivery of food for a restaurant.  Plop! Right on the sidewalk way before anyone had arrived to drag the goods inside.  Kind of unexpected, I guess you could say!

For more of our experiences in China, click on the Page at the top of this post.

This is post #21 for National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) 2013.