Wow - what a whirlwind 2 days in Beijing! We have seen The Temple of Heaven, Tianamen Square, The Forbidden City, rode in a rickshaw through a Hutong, eaten at a "local person's" house in the Hutong, visited a porcelain making facility (Diane bought a small plate), climbed the Bell Tower (rung one time per year) learned about Chinese Tea (we tasted too), watched the Peking acrobat show, ate hotpot at a local restaurant, and swam in the hotel pool...that was day 1 ;-)
Today we went to the Great Wall and Summer Palace. On the way we stopped at a Jade factory - I bought myself a very nice jade bracelet and Grace and Ruthie each got a Jade pendant carved in their Chinese Zodiac animal. Expensive, but nice. We also made a quick stop to see the Olympic venue - the bird's nest and the cube.
Impressions - Beijing is a big sprawling city with - as you might expect - lots of cars (Fords, Hondas, Buicks, VW Bugs), buses and trucks, but also lots of bicycles - motorized and regular as well as small scooters, one person cabs, and itsy trucks.
Beijing has impressive, interesting architecture and lots of contruction, but often the new sits right next to the downright ugly & dirty neighborhood. First look may you think no one lives here - sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.
You might see huge outdoor video/TV screen and 1 block away a family are drying their clothes from a tree on the street.
We've also encountered squat toilets and discovered that the practice is not to flush to toilet paper after use, but to deposit it in the small trash can in your stall - no wonder those places stiiiiink!
Weather so far: We've had WONDERFUL weather. It has been warm, very low humidity, and usually a nice breeze. We are dressing in t-shirts and shorts. The adults usually are wearing t-shirts and capri pants. We carry a light weight fleece jacket, but need it only here and there. The locals might be wearing ankle length parkas (some of the attendants were wearing these and had the hood up), long sleeve shirts and light weigh coats....crazy!
That's it for now - I'm tired and need to go to bed...it's 9:30pm on Sat eve.
Joyce
So glad the weather has been warm and nice. There was snow at the Great Wall this time last year. Sounds like you've adjusted somewhat to the time difference. Have Grace and Ruthie tried to speak Chinese yet?
ReplyDeletewow, You have visited the most beautiful and interesting sights of Beijing. I have not seen the picture in the blog. Enjoy your trip.
ReplyDeleteWOW! What a trip so far!!! I love the girl's posts!!!
ReplyDeleteFinally figured out how to follow your blog! Have been thinking about you all a lot, hoping the trip is turning out to be all that you expect.
ReplyDeleteJoyce, if you are posting pictures, neither May nor I are seeing them.
love, Vic