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Published: June 21st 2006
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Here at Last
Walking into the Forbidden City. Hello From China!
I loved this shot. This is the new China. I saw this little guy sitting on the ground talking on the cell phone in the Forbidden City.
Well today...where to begin. I guess with breakfast. The buffet was unbelievable! I guess that is what happens when you are trying to accommodate so many cultures. There was the typical American food. I am staying at a Holiday Inn mind you. There was an omelette bar where the chef cooks your food as you wait. There was also a dumpling bar where two chefs will make your dumplings to your taste. There was cereal bar with the normal assortment of cereal like you would find anywhere. There was lots of fruit. There were noodles, and many types of bread. There was some type of tofu stuff that was nasty. I tried 1000 year old egg. It was all black looking and I had to close my eyes for that bite, but it really wasn't that bad. I had some type of fruit that looked like a green cherry, but it tasted pear like. No clue was it was, but it was good. Had some yogurt that was VERY
good. Also the coffee was very strong and very good. Tomorrow I will try something else new.
I have pictures but the battery is dead and I can not transfer the pictures until I recharge the battery. I will do that tonight and maybe tomorrow I can have you some pictures of the Forbidden City.
Then we left for the Forbidden City. On the way there are people EVERYWHERE and lots of people on bikes. There is a lot of traffic and the drivers are not very considerate of the pedestrians. Our guide explained that Chinese drivers are better than American drivers so they like to wait later to stop. Sometimes they are not quite as good as they think. Hmmmmm.
First we stopped at Tantamen Square. It is a HUGE plaza. When you leave Tantamen Square you go under the road to the Forbidden City. See paragraph above about China drivers. Much of the Forbidden City is being refurbished. I imagine in preparation for the Olympics.
Walking into the Forbidden City was very powerful. This magnificent palace in the imperial city served as a safe haven for Chinese emperors from its construction in 1420 to 1911. The construction of the Forbidden City required 100,000 men, 100 million bricks, and 200 million tiles. A total of twenty-four emp erors inhabited the Forbidden City, these emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. I can only imagine what the emperors would think to know that tourists were walking where only they and their family were allowed for about $8 American.
Though we walked all morning until a late lunch we only covered a very small portion of the City. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.
After lunch we went to a pearl market. Our guide said that 90 percent of the world's market of pearls come from China. I bought a bracelet of very nice pearls for my daughter and my daughter-in law very inexpensively, but don't tell them. I also bought some tiny pearl earrings for my three granddaughters.
I forgot to mention the street vendors. They are very aggressive and will follow you and try to get you to buy their items. You have to ignore them, which is pretty tough. They are like fruit flies. They are every where.
After the market we went to eat at a very nice restaurant. The food is served on lazy susans in a style we would call family style. I have only ate with chopsticks since I have been here. I am thinking I may loose weight on this trip for a change. I would tell you about what I ate, but I don't know what 90 percent of it was. Some of it was tasty and some not so tasty.
Then we went to Beijing downtown market. Here you could barter. I didn't buy anything, but many people did. There was silk items, jade items and then the normal stuff you think of when you think of Chinese markets. Our guide suggested that we not buy any jade because we could get better deals in Xi'an.
After the market we went to see the Gate of Heavenly Peace. This is where the Emperor would come to pray for a good harvest for the year.
Then we went to eat again. Lots of eating and walking to day. Tonight we had Peking duck. It was really quite good, but not eaten how I had expected. Carvers take the meat off the duck in very thin slices. Then you take a very thin flour wrap and place the duck, some sauce, some green onion and some cucumber. Very good.
By then it time to go back to the hotel. It had been in the 90's today and everyone felt like they really needed a shower. Not only because of the heat, but the smog actually left a film on you that you could see if you wiped off with a towlette. It was also almost 9:30 at night. So you can see it has been a very full day.
Well...I will try to write tomorrow. Let me know if you have any questions.
Bambi
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Susan Crepeau
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Enjoy yourself!
Thanks so much for the summary of your day. All I ask is for you to enjoy yourself - this is an opportunity most of us will not have, but will be able to enjoy through you! It is so nice that you can will already have a summary written when you get home through this Blog. Hope you remember to write descriptions on the photos and I look forward to seeing a slide show when you return home!