Beijing Tour, Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City

Early morning walk to discover that Starbucks doesn't open till 9am

Today we spent the day adjusting to the time change, and getting a tour of the city of Beijing.   Admittedly, a small portion of Beijing.  We learned that there are 5.2 million cars and 20+ million people in this city alone.   Mind boggling.  Today we were with 3 other adopting families.  Great people,  we look forward to getting to know them more over the next couple of weeks.

[Note -I have overcome the picture challenges after a night of sleep.  So pics are now rearranged, and I have added a few more.]

Hutong -- We took a bus to the Hutong area which is basically a village of homes and shops.  But these are authentic, old school Chinese homes.  We hoped in a bunch of rickshaws and got a ride through the village.  We got out, and went into 77 year old Mrs Wu's house where she served us tea and we learned all about her and her family.  She has lived in the same house for 53 years, and couldn't stop talking about how much she loved it there.   Public toilet, and bath houses,  53 years.

Wow

Cozy, but still pretty chilly

Rickshaw ride

Us with Mrs Wu

Silk Museum.  Funny how they call it a museum.  Oh sure,  we learned how they make silk, and it was fascinating, but they are selling the stuff there.  Absolutely beautiful craftsmanship and attention to detail.  We bought a awesome authentic silk outfit for Michael and a customized hand lettered banner.

Lunch -- We all went to an authentic Chinese restaurant.  They brought out the whole gamete of Chinese food on the big lazy susan in the middle of the table.  The food was very good.  Some of the dishes like the kung pau chicken tasted nothing like what I am used to.  It wasn't bad, maybe a little bland, but still good.

Loving the name of the restaurant "Kim Mansion Gate Roast Duck Shop"

Tienanmen Square -- We walked from the restaurant to Tienanmen square.   Once we got there and were just walking out toward the middle of the square, Kerri and I were stopped by a man and his family.  Having been told to not stop when approached by the street vendors we kept walking.  The man appealed to George (our Guide) and George stopped and told us he just wanted to take our picture.  So Kerri and I had our picture taken, along with this man's ~8 year old son.   Who knew we were celebrities.   The 2 little girls (2 and 4) in our group were also found to be a very popular photo subject for the local photographers.

George, our local rep -- this dude rocks

Us in front of the Tienanmen Tower 

The whole group

Tieanamen Square

We went from the square to the Tiananmen tower (Red building you see in pictures of China) and through the gate to the forbidden city.  We then walked through gate after gate after court yard after court yard.  It just kept going until we finally got to the main building.  The scale of this place was enormous.  As we got closer to the inner courts, where the main building is, the painting became more ornate and the security tighter.  Truly fascinating

Inside the Forbidden City

From there we went back to the hotel ( hotel is actually very close to the forbidden city area).   Kerri and I opted for  Pizza hut.  My gut wasn't feeling all that great and Kerri?  Well, she doesn't like Chinese food:)   She was a trooper at lunch.

Weather today was pretty darn cold.  The rickshaw ride was especially chilly being early in the morning.   The air started out pretty clear, but by the end of the day was downright nasty.   The big city smell is here, and things are definitely dirtier than we are used to in the states.  Our hotel room smells smoky and musty.  Our window opens to the inner (inside) courtyard of the hotel.  We have the window propped open right now for air flow which has the side effect of some nice live piano music.  Except for the fact that the gal playing has a repertoire of about 5 songs.

Before going down for breakfast this morning,  we did have a chance to facetime with the kids which was awesome to see them.  They were at our dear friend's house after school.  While we were talking to them, my folks showed up to pick them up so we got to say hi to them as well.   Only gone one day, and we needed that contact.

This is going to be a long trip.

Tomorrow is the great wall and then an acrobatics show.  That will be our last full day in Beijing.  Looking forward to more sight seeing, but very anxious to fly to ZhengZhou on Sunday so we can meet Michael on Monday!