This morning started out with a trip to the Temple of Heaven Park. The temple was built at the same time as the Forbidden City, and it was the site every winter solstice of a ceremony to the Heavens asking for a bountiful harvest. The park itself is now a gathering place for all the retired citizens of Beijing to come together every morning for a variety of morning exercises. All I have to say is it is no wonder these people live to be a hundred! Here it was a freezing February morning and thousands of retirees were flocking to the park to participate in traditional folk dances, Tai Chi, and all sorts of other activities. The YMCA has nothing on The Temple of heaven Park.
Are you getting the picture? Lots of old people getting out and doing something to promote good health. Maybe we Americans should take a page from their book.
Isn’t this pretty? Michael bought us some of these ribbons. Maybe I could learn to twirl them like that? Not likely. I’ll probably end up tying myself in a giant knot!
Us in the park
My children are lost somewhere in that crowd. Just like in Korea, the kids are immensely popular in China. I swear I’m going to buy black wigs to put on my children before going out in public again. It’s the blonde hair and blue eyes that really make them stand out in Asia. And just like in Korea (well, America too really) the whole “twins” thing is a fascination for people. Did you know that in China boy/girl twins are called dragon/phoenix twins? We sure do know that now! The entire 14 million people living in Beijing made sure they each told us that! It became a running joke amongst our group. Every person who spoke any little bit of English was sure to let us in on the fact that we had dragon/phoenix twins. We tried very hard to be gracious to everyone who wanted to tell us about our kids, but we became a little mocking after about the one-millionth person or so. I’m sure that Sarah, Kevin and Eve will never want to travel with us again after this experience. Maybe they’ll consider traveling with us if we promise to leave the dragon/phoenix twins at home?
Our next stop was the Pearl Market. That was a pretty neat experience. Our tour guide took us to a shop where we had the best chance of not being ripped off. It was a little overwhelming trying to decide on which pearls we liked best.
After viewing lots of different loose pearls, I purchased a strand of small salt water pearls. It was so exciting watching someone hand knot my strand of pearls.
Are you seeing why I had such a hard time picking out just the right pearls?
Because I’m still bitter about the Silk Market, I have no pictures of it to share with you. Let’s just say I could have spent a lot of time and money in that place. Unfortunately the kids had a different opinion and everyone got grouchy, so I have very few purchases from there. I’m still mad. Anyhow, the above picture is of silkworm larvae…the same things my daughter has eaten fried in Korea…gag. Silk doesn’t start out very pretty, does it?
And this is where silk thread comes from, these little cocoons no bigger than your thumb.
Spinning silk
After a disappointing trip to the silk market we headed to lunch. The kids were all fussing from hunger and I think we all needed a little break.
I have to say, after living in Korea where it is totally acceptable and even expected for people to reach across each other at the dinner table to help themselves to which ever dish they’d like, it was a welcome sight to see these lazy Susan’s on every table. Every restaurant we ate at had a lazy Susan in the center of the table to spin and pass food on. Loved it! The food at this restaurant was for the most part delicious. We had one dish, a chicken cooked inside a bamboo shoot, none of us cared for, but all the other dishes were wonderful. At least we can now say we ate Chinese food in China, right?!
Isn’t this restaurant beautiful?
During our meal, some young ladies came out dressed in brightly called costumes to perform traditional dances. It was a nice little mid-meal distraction for the kids who all really liked seeing the different dresses.
I had to post this picture of my Sprite because I posted a picture of my Sprite written in Hangul about a month ago. I can’t read this one at all! That had to be one of the most annoying parts of China for me. At least in Korea I can read everything, and speak enough Hangul to say “I need a cup of milk for the baby”. I was at a loss in China! Knowing no Mandarin, I could only say “hello” and “thank you”. As soon as we landed back in Korea my eyes immediately began searching out signs I could read again. I even filled out a customs form written completely in Hangul! Okay, truth be told that was only because China Air only had customs forms in Mandarin or Hangul, and as I’ve said Mandarin made no sense to me.
After the dancers finished their performance, they tied red strings to our wrist ala the Kabbalah belief of protection from negative energy.
Sterling loves to tell you he’s going to be 2 soon. When you ask him how old he’s going to be he says ”two” and holds up two fingers. After lunch some of the dancers wanted to take his picture on their cell phone, but all Sterling wanted to do was tell them he’s “two”.
Isn’t this young dancer beautiful?
After the lunch everyone tied their red string to the tusks of the elephant statues outside.
Taking an elephant ride. Don’t worry; Michael was on the backside holding all their little legs.
Another Kodak moment!
After lunch we all felt a lot better so it was time to move onto our next stop.
Contemplating Beijing traffic. It’s unbelievable, but Beijing traffic was nothing compared to Seoul traffic.
Tian’an Men Square. The most I can say for the world’s largest politically charged public square (it’s the size of 90 football fields!) is it is really cold in February as the wind whips across the large open space. The kids were all totally unimpressed and chose this time to fall asleep on their respective parent’s backs. One more time…thank God for the Ergo carrier! Seriously, what did people do when traveling with toddlers before all these great carriers? It was fascinating seeing the square the whole world watched in the spring of 1989 as the student prodemocracy protestors gathered, but beyond that it was just really cold. Glad to say I’ve been there done that!
Us in Tian’an Men Square.
Chairman Mao. Our little family standing in Tian’an Men Square in front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace (an entrance to the Forbidden City). Hanging over the entrance, which was once reserved exclusively for the Emperor, hangs a very large portrait of Chairmen Mao, the founder of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The inscription surrounding the portrait reads: Long live the people’s republic of China, and Long live the great unity of the peoples of the world.
Entering the Forbidden City. Interestingly, when people entered the Forbidden City during the Emperor’s rule, they never left the city again. Here’s your warning…the Forbidden City is HUGE! We’re talking 7.75-MILLION-sq.-ft.! If you can’t wrap your brain around exactly how big that is, I totally empathize with you. We walked, and we walked, and we walked, and we still only saw 5% of it after 2 hours (only 20% is open to the public). We all agreed it should be renamed the never ending city, because that’s truly what it felt like. It’s beautiful, and it’s BIG, so I took two tons of pictures. I’ve narrowed down our pictures as much as I could, but there are still a lot of pictures to share. The architecture was just beautiful and I’m including lots of pictures detailing the beauty of the buildings comprising this historic palace. I hope you enjoy all of our Forbidden City pictures, but know that you’re only seeing a small portion of it.
The moat. This is where the lumber that traveled through the Back Lakes of Beijing would arrive in the Forbidden City. It also acted as a water source in case of fire in the palace.
I wish it was possible for me to post larger pictures on my blog. Double click on the above picture to enlarge it so you get a panorama view of the Forbidden City.
The throne room with the original throne in place.
Just like in Korea, the number of animals on the roofline defines how important a building was.
A phoenix pillar. I’ll give you one guess what is on the opposite side…that’s right, a dragon.
Leaving the Forbidden City-FINALLY!!!
After a long day, we did what any true Americans would do…found the nearest McDonald's. After being such troopers for this trip, the kids deserved a Happy Meal.
He may be growing up on foreign soil, but this little guy is as American as they come…he loves Chicken McNuggets...and Happy Meal toys!
This is what one might consider a "4 star" bathroom in China. At least it had a door to the stall (some didn't)! This is how almost all the public bathrooms were...squatters. Poor Sarah. Anyone who has ever had a baby sitting directly on their bladder knows how many trips you make to the bathroom during the course of a day. I think Sarah can say she made the bathroom tour of China.
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