Today we went on a city tour. I had chosen a personalized plan with the places we were going and the dates, well, turns out that President Obama checked my plan and he made the same one! What is the chances that we would be in China at the same time as the president and at the same places? I think I should play the lottery, my chances are probably better than being in the same place halfway around the world! We started in Tiananmen square. It is larger than I imagined. Then we planned to go to the Forbidden city, BUT Obama was there and it was once again a forbidden city, so we took the subway to Temple of Heaven. Apparently, not too many foreigners take the subway, so we were a little bit of a celebrity. An older woman wanted her picture taken with us, then she and her husband laughed and danced around with excitement, it was very cute.
The temple of heaven was magnificent. We went in the gate the locals go in and we got to see what average life is like for a person in Beijing. They were dancing,singing, doing crafts, playing poker, and generally having a good time hanging out.
The traffic was terrible because of Obama, so we had to sit in stopped traffic a lot of the day. For lunch, we went to the spa, had a 90 minute foot and back massage and a dumpling lunch.
After lunch, we went to the drum and bell towers in the old part of Beijing. We climbed up to the top of the drum tower. The steps were really steep and difficult to climb. At the top, you could see all the way across the city. There were some junior high school kids on a field trip and they practiced their English talking to me. After I said Ni Hao, they really started to talk.
We got into a rickshaw and headed into the hutong (oldest area of Beijing) for a tour of the homes. The road was really rough and the rickshaw driver had to push us much of the way. We got to go into a home and see how they actually live there. The hostess told us the story of her family and served us tea. There are no bathrooms or showers in the individual homes, they have to use public showers and toilets. Our lives are so easy and wealthy compared to life in the hutong.
We left that area and went to the public market where we saw snakes, scorpions, beetles, starfish, urchins, sharks and every imaginable meat on a stick for sale. We didn't try anything, but our guide told us that if it flies, crawls or swims, they will eat it!
We went to dinner at a very local restaurant down a side street, had kung pao chicken, noodles, broccoli and mushrooms and some pork rind dish. Very different than Chinese food at home, but still very good.
At the end of this long day, we went to a Kung Fu show. It was amazing how high they can jump, twist and spin. We were so tired, we nodded off during the show. Tomorrow we were supposed to go to the great wall, but Obama is going there, so we aren't. We will be going to some other sites and then to the Great Wall on Thursday.
We are tired, but having a great time.
