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Published: November 25th 2009
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Forbidden City
Building Architecture The first leg of our nine day tour with my mom and Joyce was to Beijing. We signed up for the tour with a company called China Highlights and we can’t say enough for the service that they provide. We had a private tour for the four of us and had a guide and driver meet us in every location.
We arrived in Beijing in the late afternoon so we planned to see the Flying Acrobatics Show on the first night. It was fun to watch the amazing things that the acrobats can do. The next morning after a good breakfast at the hotel we were off to our first full day of adventures. We went to Tiananmen Square and then The Forbidden City. Our observations were that the square was not as big as we had imagined and that The Forbidden City was much bigger. We have seen so much about the square and have been told how big it is that I think we already had an idea of what we would see. It was amazing to actually be standing where so much history (some not so long ago) has occurred. And it was hard to imagine
that The Forbidden City was only used for the Emperor until the early 1900’s since it was so large and elaborate. Having a private guide also allowed us to learn a lot about the sites we were seeing.
After lunch we went for a rickshaw ride through an old Beijing neighborhood (Hutong). We learned historically how to determine the wealth and status of people living in these neighborhoods. There are wooden beams on the doors. None means that a family is poor up to four for a very wealthy family. It was interesting that they would all live in the same areas but closed behind doors into their own courtyard houses. We were able to visit with a family that has lived in one of these neighborhoods for several generations. The post system is no longer used and these neighborhoods are disappearing fast for modern apartment and commercial buildings. They were doing a lot of work on the roads as you can see in the pictures so the ride was pretty rough. It is good to see that this neighborhood will be preserved for others to see and hopefully the ride will be smoother the next time we
visit. Next we were off to the Pearl market. China is known for both salt and fresh water pearls. We were able to buy some wonderful gifts and some gifts for ourselves too.
Our second day in Beijing took us to the Great Wall. It was a bit of a drive and was a rainy day but cleared up just in time for us to climb onto the wall. What an amazing experience. There are things in life that you see on TV and in books but think you will never see in person. We all agreed that this was one of those sites. The view is wonderful and the wall goes on forever. We walked as far as time allowed. The wall was built in a mountainous area so there were a lot of steps and hills to climb but worth every step we had to take. We were even able to take a cable car to the base of the wall so my mom, the cable car lover, was very happy. Even though some of us (Joyce and Carrie) could never see one again and be perfectly happy. On the way back from the Great Wall
we stopped at a cloisonné factory. This is the process of making items that look like pottery but are really from a metal base with small strips of another metal glued on and filled with enamel. The process was very impressive and we can understand why cloisonné items are expensive as they are very labor intensive. The factories on the tour were so important to the understanding of the historical crafts of China. They are still making most things by hand and are sold in government stores so you know you are buying genuine quality products. As much as people are hounding you on the streets to buy junk, the government stores are very calm and there was really no pressure to buy anything. Although, you know we did! The last thing we did today was to have Beijing (Peking) Duck. Our guide helped us order and left us to enjoy. It was pretty good and was a must if you are going to visit Beijing.
Our last day in Beijing was spent walking around the Olympic Green and touring the Summer Palace. Then we had to leave our guide, Jerry, and head off to the next city,
Xian.
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Judy Wilson
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What a trip!
This whole trip looked just amazing. The great wall was really something to see. I am so glad you guys are getting to see so many places and do so many things. Love Aunt Judy