Closer to Heaven in Beijing

Can you hear the drums waking the city of Old Beijing? We began our morning at the drum tower listening to the ancient ritual wake the city. Twenty-five drums beat together representing the weather, the time, and the season. In ancient times the drums were a way of communicating important information from village to village. After the drumming ceremony, we began our rickshaw ride through the neighborhood. Children waved and shouted “Hello!” as we rode by. This was our first real glimpse at what life is like for the locals. We rode past their markets, their barbershops, and their playgrounds. During our rickshaw tour, a local family invited our group into their home to have some tea and see their courtyard. Sipping cups of warm jasmine tea and looking at their old black and white photographs took us to the heart of the Chinese culture, the family.

After the rickshaw tour was completed, we headed off to the zoo for a visit with the Giant Pandas. Despite the drizzling rain, we were enchanted to see 10 pandas in action. Sleeping, eating, playing, tumbling, these charming creatures were showing off for the cameras. They are in the Hall of Pandas, a special exhibition that has been put in place for the Olympics.
Our next stop on the tour took my breath away. The Temple of Heaven is set back in a huge garden. Through the long corridor, there were all kinds of entertainments - dancing, singing, prayer, poetry, tai chi. The elderly spend their free time in the corridor leading to the Temple of Heaven. The irony is obvious. But the serene look on their face and the sheer number of locals in the gardens and corridors was enough to tell me that it was their pleasure to be there. Once we arrived in the courtyard of the Temple, I was awe-struck by the extraordinary work of architecture, art, and pure genius of this temple. The pictures don’t do it justice.

Our last stop of the day was the pearl market. Thousands of pearls, jade, and artisans in one building - it was a jewelry lover’s dream. We spent some time “negotiating” prices and walking away with steals. The only hard part will be parting with the treasures that were bought for others.
As I write this we are traveling by train to Xian. Our little cabin has four beds, which is really good because we each need a bed for our treasures to be safely tucked away and a bed to sleep on. Kallie is cocooned in her bunk and is settling in for her first train ride.

If I hadn’t mentioned before, I’ll just say now that our group is fantastic and we have really come to enjoy each other’s company. It’s hard to explain some of the goofy things that have gone on because you’d really have to be here for it to make sense. But I am especially happy that we’re here now with these fun loving, educated, and outgoing people. Everyone looks out for each other and they all look out for Kallie. Our little social butterfly loves every minute of it! Our group is made up of some fantastic traveling partners - sisters, fiancées, husbands and wives, a three generation ladies trip, an uncle & nephew team, a father son team, and of course Kallie and I. In no particular order we’ll intro duce - Barbara & Erin (a special shout out to Barbara’s kids!), Gregg & Vanessa, Ray & Brandon, Bill & Trey, Steve & Mia, Larry & Kathy & Sam, Anne (who is 85 and still tried to charge the Great wall!) and finally our guide, Steven, who make up the core of our group. We have laughed, photographed, and chatted our way through Beijing. We can hardly wait to see what the next 8 days will bring.

We’ll say good night now from Beijing and then Zao Shang Hao from Xian!

Zai Jian,

Ricki & Kallie

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