We had a really good day today, though it rained & rained. I didn't mind at all because I had my Keen wet shoes & my umbrella. We first toured the Temple of Heaven and the surrounding park. This was just inside the old city wall and where the emperor would go twice a year to talk with heaven & pray for a good crop. Now it is surrounded by a huge park where you can see people doing their tai chi, etc. in the morning.
Our next stop was Tianamen Square, but by then it was raining. We got off the bus & were surrounded by hawkers selling umbrellas for $1. As we walked through the Square (huge!) the rain came down in buckets, we were sloshing through the rain! It was great!, but others didn't agree. We went down into the pedestrian underpasses and waited for a few minutes with many, many Chinese, really interesting & I do believe they found our group really interesting as well.
When it slowed a bit we continued on to the Forbidden City. At first I was not really impressed. The first two palaces or gates were covered in green scaffolding (cleaning up for the Olympics). & I thought I would be disappointed...but no...walked through another gate to the servants quarters and it became more impressive, though another gate to the emperor's private buildings and Wow! It went on and on and on. I wish I could show you photos!!! When we get some free time, I will see if I can use one of the guys computers to upload some photos for you.
Maybe Matt, I will send them to you a couple at a time, and have you upload them to my blog. Would you mind? I'd really like to share some with everyone.
Anyway, it was still raining, though not as hard. After a short rest at the hotel we went to the Drum Tower and the Old Hutong area. Fascinating! We got to take a pedicab ride through the hutongs (old small alleys filled with homes). AND THEN..we got to have a meal at one of the homes of a family! They were so so friendly, the little old man talked and talked (In Chinese, Prof. Rick translated for us) about the changes in China in the last few years and how good it was for the country. His daughter and son-in-law cooked a great spread for us (I actually liked almost everything!) and showed us around their small home. It was, of course one of the better homes as they have this little tourist business going on. I will send photos!
And all through the rain, we were all drowned rats all day, but I didn't mind, it's really warm anyway. So now, Denise and I went to a different internet cafe. It's huge! And much cleaner than the one I was at yesterday. Lots of young people playing those internet games. You have to show them your passport and pay three (sahn) yuan ( about .50 cents ) for one hour. It seems to work really well. Except, of course for my blog. I have a couple of ideas to try, but am not optimistic. We will see. We think our gov't is 'Big Brother', nothing like here!
Tomorrow we go to the Great Wall. A ski lift to the top and then toboggan back down when we're done. In the evening, we go to the Peking Opera. Now this is travel! Thanks Taxpayers : )
Love ya, Steph (Mom)
Somebody...write to me!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment