Beijing Day Three

Another really full and good day seeing Beijing. The day started at about 6:30 a.m. when I went to get bottled water at the little shops near our hotel. After I got the water, I took a few minutes and checked out the various comings and goings of the people. It's amazing how varied the scene was. On one hand, there is our fancy hotel with a beautiful lobby and a bunch of really elegant restaurants and shops across from the hotel. But right around the corner from the hotel, there is a construction site (I believe they are building another hotel) so there are construction workers coming and going -- most not wearing shirts, all smoking cigarettes. And the little shops have activity of their own. There was a guy on the corner deep frying bread and serving it to the construction workers and other people on their way to work. There was a guy making what looked like crepes with eggs on them. There were people biking down the narrow street and people setting up shop. It was really nice to start the day that way.

After meeting everyone for breakfast at the hotel, our first stop was Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. The pic of R and Etu is in Tienanmen Square, as is the one of Etu wearing the hat I bought her yesterday. The other three photos are from the Forbidden City. Tienanmen Square was impressive mainly for its massiveness. The buildings look like they were built for giants and the same is true with the public spaces. The Forbidden City is also massive but not in terms of the size of the buildings -- rather, because there are so many buildings and the complex just keeps going on and on. I personally liked the Forbidden City more than Tienamen Square and we all enjoyed walking through the various parts of the City (although it was very hot!).

After lunch in the Forbidden City, the next stop was a factory that makes silk carpets. I had very low expectations here but we were all pleasantly surprised. The guide was really knowledgeable and we all learned about the process of making silk carpets. Short summary: it takes a long time -- years in some cases to make a single carpet. There is a lot af artistry involved. And even a small carpet is many hundreds of dollars. Luckily for me, R didn't buy anything. But our party didn't disappoint our guide -- a few people bought things, which made our tour guide happy.

We then spent all afternoon on a rickshaw tour of the old Beijing neighborhood. It was both fun and educational -- we had two people per rickshaw and the guys peddaling these converted bicycles were fearless as we weaved in and out of traffic, around pedestrians, and over bumps in the road. We stopped along the way a few times to have tours of various parts of the neighborhood -- including a stop in a nursery school and a house. Of course on the house tour Etu hit it off with the 95 year old grandmother who spoke no English! We all got pictures of the two of them hugging and (according to our guide) the grandmother wished us all well in our travels. It was touching and funny all at the same time.

Next stop was an early dinner at the top Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing. It was a huge place -- with photos on the wall of dignitaries who had eaten there (including Henry Kissinger when he was doing shuttle diplomacy for the Nixon trip to China). We all loved the duck. Jim, Etu, Gene, and I ordered four beers that came in massive bottles (see, even the BEER in China is huge!). Etu and Jim fought over who could eat the duck head (and then they realized there were two duck heads and were both happy)! We are all grossed out. Yesterday, they both ate turtle at a Chinese restaurant for lunch, so they are our adventursome eaters.

We managed to finish all of the beer and we made it back to the hotel in one piece. We are all tired but feeling good about how much of the sights, sounds, and feel of Beijing we have been able to absorb in a short time. Tomorrow we have an early start since we are going to the Great Wall. We are all getting increasingly excited as Sunday approaches. So the busy itinerary is helpful if nothing else because it helps us pass the time until we get to Nanchang on Sunday. But it also has been good just to get a better flavor for this amazing place. Ok - off to bed now.

J.