We arrived safely yesterday and had the evening to relax. Beijing is modern and admist the hustle and bustle of bicycles and skooters buzzing around everywhere, If I tried to explain everything we saw today, I would have ten pages. Our day began looking into the very hazy sky in Beijing. The smog is so thick, it is almost impossible to recognize the sun overhead as a small dot in the sky. This was most obvious as we entered Tienanmen Square. Not only was this an interesting area for its relavance to the Chinese population, but gave everyone the opportunity to witness the reaction of Chinese people to western visitors. We were on parade, as people snapped photos of the odd looking western people. Tom was further made a hero in the bathroom of the Forbidden City (a four star potty), when a young boy looked up and said, "where are you from?" Tom responded by telling him from the United States, whereby the boy looked at Tom profoundly and said,"wow!!!" Tienanmen square leads to the gates of the Forbidden City which is 600 years old. There are 10,000 rooms. We saw three however could see other areas jetting off the the sides. When I walked through the gates and witnessed this famous Chinese place, it was so surreal! It took a little over 2 hours to walk through. I soldiered through the heat and humidity. We also stopped in Summer Palace and enjoyed looking over the lake. we later visited a pearl market and silk market. Tonight was the performance by Chinese acrobats who are known around the world. This was also another amazing thing to watch however our entire group was so exhausted from all the walking, we were all struggling to keep our eyes open!
All of the tourist sites were great, but we most enjoy watching people in their everyday life. Men selling fruit on the side of the road off a bicyle cart, bycicles that look like they were made fifty years ago sitting in mass alongside the street, and the general friendly nature of people. One big difference is that we feel completely safe here. Other than a pick pocket or two in crowded tourist areas, we were told there is no violent crime. Tom and I talked about this being the main difference. Though people are packed like sardines around you, it is never an unsafe feeling like visiting Chicago.
OK, off to bed. Chuch, jade market, the Great Wall, and Peking Duck tomorrow. We come back and pack for our flight to get Sidney on Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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