Our entire America World group went sight-seeing today in Beijing. There are 23 families in total and 11 other families are going to Chongqing with us. We are pretty exhasted now! We left the hotel at 8:30 this morning and didn't return until about 9:15 PM.
The morning started with a trip to Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden city. The Tiannamen gate with the large picture of Chairman Mao leads into the Forbidden city. The place was swarming with people--they expected 38,000 guests today! We then had lunch and went to a pearl store, a silk factory and the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is a large park with buildings that was a resort for the imperial family during the hot season. It's built around a huge man made lake and was probably 10-15 degrees cooler than the Forbidden City. We ended the day with dinner and an amazing acrobatic show.
And no, it wasn't a particularly cloudy day there was just lots of smog! Some interesting things we saw...
A basketball hoop inside the Forbidden City
The emperor's "spies"~ Apparently these animals that are on the corners of many buildings were supposed to keep a look out and "spy" for the emperor. The more "spies" on the building the more important it was.
A rating system for bathrooms. Apparently this bathroom scored four stars because there were a couple Western toilets in addition to the "squatty potties". I would say it should get 4 1/2 because it also had a toilet paper dispenser!
The man-made lake at the Summer Palace.
All in all we had a very good, very tiring day and we are one more day closer to meeting Shiloh!!!
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Can't wait to see all your pictures - but more importantly can't wait to see Shiloh! T minus two, right?
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to Gotcha Day! Can not wait to see Shiloh and Olivia in the arms of their mom's and Dad's!
ReplyDeleteHugs from MN
What an incredible day Jen! We didn't have a chance to see the Summer Palace. It is definitely on our list of places to visit on a return trip. Looks gorgeous. Can you believe the air quality?! Hard to find some sunshine sometimes isn't it. ;) Keep soaking up all you can! Can't wait for your next couple updates!
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazingly busy day! How fun to be able to see so much even if it was all squeezed into a short amount of time. Looking forward to seeing photos of you with your daughter!
ReplyDeleteYes TP can be hard to find there. Great pics of your tours. Enjoy Monday! Amy (MN Red Thread Group)
ReplyDeleteLoving your posts! Such great memories for us as we did the very same things just 10 months ago. Enjoy - the best is yet to come!
ReplyDeleteKaren & Dan
MN Red Thread
The Summer Palace is so gorgeous, and it ended up being a clearer day for you than it was for us.
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