Saturday, August 28, 2010
We got up early today and ate breakfast at the hotel. They served buffet with Chinese and western style foods. It was very good. After breakfast, we went to the Tian An Men square. It is the largest square in the world. It was a very clear day no smog. It was around 80 degrees. We did alot of walking. Tian An Men square is right in front of the Forbidden City. The gates to the outer and inner courts are very big. We got to see a couple of the buildings that the Emperor used for a waiting room and storage (storing porcelain, silver, gold and jade) There were very large pots sitting around the courts that they use to use to fill with water in case there was a fire. After entering the courts we got to see the area where the servants and his concubines lived. We also got to see one of the Emperors chairs that he sat in. Then we got to walk through the garden. After seeing the garden, then you leave the Forbidden City. On the way out, a man was selling books about the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Kevin agreed to the price that the man said, but when he was suppose to give us our books he gave us another book instead and started arguing with Kevin about the price. He continued to argue and then 5 or 6 of his friends showed up and they started arguing too. Finally, the man gave us the right books that Kevin had agreed too but Kevin had to give him more money.
Mary took us downtown to eat at a local restaurant. Mary ordered for us and we recieved four large dishes and dessert. One dish was very spicy it had chucks of lamb, hot peppers and little clear square cubes that looked like gelatin. The dish was so hot that even after 30 minutes later my lips were still on fire. The other dishes were steamed vegetables, spicy noodles, plain rice and stir fried mushrooms with pork.
After lunch we went to the Silk Museum. We got to see how silk is made from the beginning with the silk worms. They let us pull one of the cocoons and we had our picture taken. The tour ended in the store area so we had opportunity to buy some of the items that they make. I got Olivia a couple of outfits for Chinese New Year.
After the tour, we headed to the Great Wall. It was an hour drive out of town to get to the wall. It was very large and very high. Mary left us at the bottom of the wall and said see you in 1 1/2 hour. We started hiking up the wall. It was very steep and the step risers were higher than normal. It was a workout. I don't know how the Chinese people walk up because they are shorter than me. I made it up halfway and stopped. Kevin went on up to the top and got some GREAT pictures. We walked back down and went to the other side to get pictures of the moat. We returned to the hotel at 5:30 pm and decided after our busy day and interesting lunch that we would stay in our room and eat peanut butter and crackers and they tasted great.
We are excited about leaving Beijing in the morning because we are flying to Xi An and getting Olivia in the afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment