After breakfast we met the other two families that are in our travel group, fantastic people who you will be getting to know over the next two weeks and I will introduce them later. We all jumped on the bus and headed over to Tiananmen Square and it has really changed since last time we were here. Lots of Olympic showcase items and new fountains in front of the Forbidden City. The Paralympics are just beginning so there is a bunch of activity related to tours and families being here for the events.
We walked through the Forbidden City and Lily started to get some time with Avery, you will see her in the pictures... very outgoing, very friendly... very cute. She is a couple years younger than Lily but she really has wisdom. Within a couple hours she had our shy Lily going up to the front with our tour guide and hanging out with others which was a pleasant surprise. After the Forbidden City we went to Lunch. Lots of unique dishes and everyone loved it. We continued to get to know the other two families. The Leong and McLaughlin families are both from Colorado and share many common interests so we can tell this will be a special time, special group.
After Lunch we visited a silk factory and got to see exactly how silk is made, Lily and Avery continued to bond and got to hold the silk worm cocoons, play with the silk and basically get involved in every part of the tour they could. They spent at least ten minutes watching a woman do some intricate embroidery... really amazing, think about a 4 and 7 year old just standing right next to someone for ten minutes watching sewing. I was impressed. Next up was visit to Hutong where the houses date back hundreds of years and are courtyard in the setup. Families would live together (4 generations) and we were able to visit a very kind family who served us tea and showed us wonderful hospitality while answering questions about life in Hutong. This tour took place by rickshaw, which was 2 persons to a carriage with manpower provided by bicycle. Very interesting... fast, dangerous, fun. We enjoyed it very much.
Next we went to an acrobatics show which was over the top... all of the performers were less than 20 years old and the youngest was 5. Too much to explain and it would be totally lost in blog format. You can check out this video to get an idea but it is not the same show. By this time I was beginning to fade away... actually nodding off while there is this huge show with loud music and like 50 girls all making this huge pyramid on one bicycle as it rides around the stage. So next we went to dinner and had famous Beijing Roast Duck and lots of other treats that were wasted on me. I was ready for bed, and here I am doing this post while everyone else has fallen asleep. See what I do for you?
Tomorrow we head to Great Wall of China, get some lunch, go to Jade factory and dinner... then check out olympic village (or maybe that is next morning, can't remember)
Okay, have a nice day everyone while we get some sleep.
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2 comments:
Found your blog through Donna. Your little Emma is the same exact age as our Anna (adopted 3/07) We just came home with our little guy who is 4 days younger. :-)
Looking forward to following your journey!
Wow, that's the EXACT same itinerary we had for our first Beijing day! Glad you had fun, but yes, we were SO nodding off during the acrobat show...lol. One more day "down" as you head toward Emma!
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