Up early as we have a full day of sightseeing planned. Buffet breakfast at the hotel. I should note that on most days all meals are included. Unfortunately I didn't jot down the names of the restaurants or take pictures. Today breakfast, lunch, and special dinner are included. Our guide for Beijing is Peggy.
First stop.
Tiananmen Square. Largest public square in the world at the time of our trip. 100 acres. Capable of holding one million people. It's vast. We walk around admiring several buildings flanking the square. Also we see the Monument to the People's Heroes where uniformed men stand duty. No pictures allowed of the officers. We get a group picture with a souvenir book. It's a lovely memento of our day.
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| Tiananmen Square |
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| Tiananmen Square is vast |
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Monument to the People's Heroes
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| Great Hall of the People |
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| Mausoleum of Chairman Mao |
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| left to right-Joyce, Jim, Cherie, Kevin, my husband Richard, me, Frank, and our guide Peggy |
Then we walk through the Gate of Heavenly Peace under the famed portrait of Chairman Mao into the
Forbidden City. This is a 9,999 room compound where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties ruled the Middle Kingdom for nearly 500 years (1420-1911). There's a lot to see but of course we don't have time to explore all 9, 999 rooms. I really appreciate the signage in English which has information as to the building, etc. Completed in 1420 this UNESCO World Heritage site is on 250 acres protected by a 20' wide moat and a 32' high wall. The Forbidden City was the exclusive domain of the imperial court and dignitaries where outside visitors were forbidden for 5 centuries. Here's just a few pictures from our time at the Forbidden City.
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Enter the Forbidden City under the picture of Chairman Mao through the Gate of Heavenly Peace
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Our next stop is the 800 year old Drum Tower. We got to hear the drumming and saw great views.
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| Drum Tower |
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Drum performance schedule
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| Getting ready for the drum performance |
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| Drumming |
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| View of Beijing skyline and hutongs |
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| Frank is enjoying the view |
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Hutongs
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| We can also see the Bell Tower from the Drum Tower |
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| Lots of tour buses and bicycle rickshaws |
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Bell Tower
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After we are done we explore Beijing's hutongs in a bicycle rickshaw. A network of maze like alleyways and neighborhood residences. We stop to see a traditional courtyard home. We gave the rickshaw driver a nice tip as he had to pedal us 2 hefty Americans around! Then we walked to the home where we would have lunch cooked by a local family. The food was delicious. The husband was the cook. We had received information as to some special activities like this lunch with a local family doing the cooking and what to bring as gifts if and only if we wanted. I had brought a gift for them-a package of Fowler's chocolate bars. They were happy to accept my gift and I even spoke a bit of Mandarin? to them thanking them for lunch!
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| We are getting into our rickshaws |
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| Here we are! |
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One of the alleyways we went down
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| Lunch with a local family; we are left to right-Frank, Richard, guide Peggy, me, our hostess, Jim, Joyce, Cherie, and Kevin |
We visited a local kindergarten (another special activity) where the class met us on the school playground. Their teacher had them sing a welcome song for us. I gifted the teacher and class with boxes of crayons, pencils, pencil sharpeners, enough for all of them-all made in the USA, not China!! I was happy that I had been able to do this early in our trip so I wouldn't have to cart these items for long. Walking again we ran into a street dance. Joyce and I joined in.
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| They were adorable |
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| While not a graceful dancer I had fun! |
Back in our small bus for our last stop for the day-Temple of Heaven. Traditional Chinese architectural balance and symbolism. One key element in China's architectural genius was the blending of the monumental with the delicate. During each winter solstice, the Ming and Qing emperors would perform rites and make sacrifices to Heaven praying for a good harvest for their empire. The most striking is the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests which according to the emperor's fengshui masters is the exact point where heaven and earth met. Built in 1420 this masterpiece of Ming architecture features triple eaves, dramatically carved marble balustrades, and gorgeous glazed azure roof that symbolizes the color of heaven. Built without a single nail this 120' high structure is fixed by 4 inner pillars which represent the seasons and 2 sets of 12 columns which denote the months and the traditional Chinese version of a day.
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Map
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You are supposed to touch one of these gold color knobs before you enter for good luck
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| Yummy dinner |
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