Day #2

Lots and lots of sightseeing in Beijing. We started the day at the Great Wall, but unfortunately because of the weather, didn't see too much of it. It was extremely foggy and muggy so even though we walked all the way to the top tower, we never saw anything more than 10 feet away from us. So we've seen every step but none of the beautiful views of the wall stretching out across the rolling hills that you see so many pictures of. It was very steep at points and because of the heat everyone was dripping with sweat right away. Since it was Saturday there were many Chinese tourists from outside of Beijing and they were very interested in us. We got lots of stares. Nothing rude, just looking at us for a long time without caring whether we noticed or not. By the time we got back down to the entrance it was packed and it took us twice as long to finish the last two sections because we had to muscle our way through the crowds coming up. Some of the areas are quite narrow, so that wasn't easy.

After the Great Wall we were taken to the Summer Palace. It is a huge lake and gardens where the Emperors of the Qing dynasty would spend their summers. It was very beautiful and I could see how it would have been a peaceful place if not for the throngs of tourists there as well. There were some beautiful temples, statues and gardens to walk through and Iko gave us the history of everything as we walked.

Next we were taken on a tour of a local neighborhood by pedicab: a modern rickshaw of sorts that they peddle while you sit in the back and relax. The neighborhoods are called Hutong and some have been around for over two hundred years. They are low brick or mud/cement buildings built around narrow alleyways. Many of the homes have inner courtyards and the people sit outside to do just about anything including playing cards, drinking beer, washing clothes, shining shoes or just talking. It looked like a very peaceful and simple way of life. Of course our guide told us that most of those areas are being torn down to make way for new high-rises in preparation for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. That's a shame because they have been a part of the culture for so long and many of the older people are fighting to keep the areas intact.

There was a small area of this neighborhood that they had set up as an example and we could go inside and were served lunch in the rooms. The food was very good: rice, dumplings, pork with garlic shoots, chicken with onions, sliced tomatoes sprinkled with sugar and some really yummy peanuts. Of course we had to try the local Beijing beer which is also quite tasty.

Finally we were dropped off at a local market to look around and try our hands at bargaining if we wanted. There was clothing, silk, jewelry, electronics, art work, even golf clubs! We tried out some of the phrases we'd learned such as "tai guay le!" which means "too expensive!" and did pretty well. Dave and I bought a dress for Grace's little foster sister for $10.00 and a set of worry balls - painted metal balls with little bells inside that you roll in the palm of your hand. They are pretty and have a strangely calming effect. We had seen some when we visited Barbara in Germany, and we only paid $1! Laura bought a beautiful silk tablecloth and a Mah Jong set and Dave really considered buying an IPod Nano for $50 but couldn't make up his mind...hmmm.

Now we are back at the room and we are going to go out to an area with lots of bars and restaurants on our own this evening. Tomorrow we will see Tiananmen Square and then fly to Nanning. Monday is gotcha day!

Our pictures don't seem to be posting for some reason. Eblogger tells us that they have been uploaded onto the blog, but when we preview it they are not there. We're not sure if that's because of being in China or if it's an issue with our laptop. We'll keep working on it.

Lots of love