Day 2 Beijing, 2006

Mike and I woke up bright and early at 3:00 a.m. Beijing time.  So, we ended up getting ready early, went downstairs and had a nice breakfast.  We met our guide at 9:00 a.m. and headed for Tiananman Square.  It was very windy and chilly and I questioned whether I packed the right clothes.  There was a lot of people there.  Next to TS is the Forbidden City.  I really enjoyed looking at the beautiful architecture and hearing the history of the emperors.  Joe, our guide, did a great job.  Jack kept asking "how much longer".  I know it was very hard for him.  This type of touring is not interesting for him.  

Next, we picked up another family for a tour of the Hutong District.  We rode a rickshaw through the alleys and streets and headed to have lunch.  This is where it got interesting for Jack.  They served a variety of foods, which was all very good.  It was definitely nothing like the Chinese food in the U.S.  Jack immediately wanted the chicken because that was all that looked good to him.  It was small bite-sized pieces.  It also had bones in it, so Jack was a bit disappointed.  I loved all of the veggies.  Jordan and Seth ate very well also.  I think Mike could have completely skipped lunch.

We then headed to the silk factory.  I was very impressed on how they made the silk.  The children each got a silkworm coccoon and seemed to enjoy the guides description of the process.  I learned so much from the little tour.  Mike bought Jordan a silk cover for her bed.  It seems to be much better than her down comforter.

We finished the evening with the acrobat show.  This was the highlight of the boys evening.  We were all amazed at the ability of those people.  You'll see by the pictures.  We left the show at about 6:30 and were supposed to go out to dinner.  Everyone one was completely exhausted, so we decided just to go back to our hotel and rest.  Jordan immediately went to bed and we followed shortly behind her.  It was a very memorable and enjoyable first day in China.

We are having difficulties uploading pictures.  So, keep checking back to see if we are able to get them posted.  We are also able to check our email from the hotel.  Mike could actually work from here if he wanted to!  Until tomorrow...