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For our first full day in Beijing, we head off to the Summer Palace, where Chinese Emperors use to spend their summers. The Palace surrounded the Kunming Lake and offered amazing views of Chinese architecture. The Summer Palace is also home to the world’s longest corridor (apparently listed in the Gennis world record book, yet to be confirmed). After snapping more pics we boarded yet another boat to dragon island. We all managed to claim the forward portion of the boat (or so we thought) where Abby and I quickly acted the role of co-captains until the boat started and we realized we were going backwards.
The boat ride took us to the other side of the lake where we were able to cross the “17 arch bridge” named for, you guessed it, having 17 arches. After crossing the bridge we entered a pavilion where Chinese women were dancing, took the obligatory picture, then headed back out the gate towards the bus.
Our next stop was the Pearl Factory. Here we were given a lesson on the various types of natural fresh water pearls (apparently the only natural colors are pink, lavender, white and black) and the Chinese only
gold pearl found only in the South China Sea. We were also taught how to tell fake pearls from real and then ushered off to the “golden room” which housed some of the most expensive pearls I will probably ever be around. The crowds dispersed and Abby and I continued window-shopping until I found a counter where someone had left out a very beautiful, golden pearl necklace. After doing some quick calculations, I figured out that this necklace cost $12,000USD then I demanded Abby try it on. After taking a few pics we were busted and forced to return the necklace and continue on.
After reboarding the bus we ate lunch then headed off to Tien’anmen Square. This was probably (aside from the Great Wall) the one item I had been looking forward to the most. After asking a few basic questions about the political history of the square we quickly realized our tour guide did not know very much about it. She stated that the protests were “not that big of a deal” and then covered the mic and said, “we don’t talk about that here”. We dropped the subject and moved on.
We crossed the square
and entered the Forbidden City. Apparently the largest palace in the world, it did not disappoint. We walked around the various rooms and halls but I have to say my favorite part of the trip was the 4-star bathroom denoted by a large plaque hung outside by the Beijing Tourist Administration.
Our next stop that night was to take a rickshaw to the traditional Hutongs for dinner. The Hutongs are an area which has maintained the traditional houses of past China. East house consists of 4 rooms which surround a courtyard. As dictated by Feng Shui the north room was for the parents, the east and west for the children and the south room for help. We entered the courtyard then the west room for dinner. Dinner was served traditional style, which was very similar to what we’ve been eating. Family style, mostly pork, everything covered in sauce and deep-fried.
After dinner we took the rickshaws back to our bus, where we drove to a Kung Fu show. Not knowing what to expect I was pretty amped (maybe it was the unlimited beer at dinner, it was getting hard to tell at this point.) The Kung
Fu show was pretty impressive…think martial art opera? However, it was all in English so the authenticity of it was questionable, although not having to read subtitles was pretty sweet.
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