We met our guide in our hotel lobby at 9:30am this morning. Today we went to the Forbidden City which is a short walk away from our hotel. Cindy took us to our destination by way of a beautiful park. The park followed a creek and had beautiful flowers. There were plenty of places to sit and enjoy the view. Cindy told us that Chinese gardens are designed to block your view so that as you continue walking more of the park is revealed. It is different from most of our parks in the US where you can see for long distances or have empty spaces for sporting events. Even the park was filled with a lot of people. The senior citizens come to the park as a social gathering every day. Here they meet up with friends to exercise or sing.
The Forbidden City was amazing. As we stood on the outside, across the street was the famous Tienanmen Square. We asked our guide if it was famous because of the demonstration all of those years ago where the young people stood in front of a tank or was there another reason. She said that she didn't know much about what happened there because the news coverage was very limited for them. She advised me not to talk about it while we were in that location. She said they are allowed to discuss political issues now, but in the Forbidden City, they are still sensitive to those issues. I complied with her suggestion. We walked through another garden to go into the Forbidden City. It got it's name because the Imperial families and other important dignitaries lived and worked there. No one but them were allowed to enter. Today it is open to the public and thousands visit it everyday. It is an honor for the Chinese people to visit the
Forbidden City and many will only visit once in their life time.
It was a hot day today and there was a lot of walking involved. The Forbidden City is building, courtyard, followed by more buildings and more courtyards. It goes on and on. Daniel was a trooper but he couldn't take it anymore so we asked our guide if we could end our trip a little early. She agreed with our request and told us that most people ask to end early, even without children with them. We felt better because we were concerned that we may have offended her.
After lunch we walked to Old Beijing and did some shopping. Many of the buildings are very old and were part of the original Forbidden City. We met many nice people and bought some great items. At one of our stops Daniel found a cat. He sat down next to the cat and started talking to him. It was so cute! While he was having a chat with the cat, some little kids came by to see the cat. Brian picked up Daniel and we left the store. The little kids ran past us and Daniel said that he wanted to play with the kids. We let him down and he ran to join the kids that were now playing outside of a store. Most of the kids were 1 to 5 or 6 years. Daniel just joined in and they didn't seem to mind. I visited with a mom of a one year old. She told me that she was the little girl's mother and I told her that I was Daniel's mother. She flashed me a look of total surprise. The kids were playing with a Nintendo game and they even let Daniel
play too. It was precious watching these children playing together. They didn't seem to notice that he didn't speak their language and Daniel didn't seem to know that they didn't speak English.
On our way to dinner tonight we decided to take a rick saw to our restaurant. They took Brian in one, Daniel and I in the other. It was a little scary but fun. When we arrived they told us 300 Yuan ($44 USD) and we weer shocked! They told us at the beginning that it would be 3. Brian was so mad but both of the men were reaching into his money clip so he gave it to them. At the restaurant the manager told us it should have only been 20 Yuan and he apologized. It stinks to get ripped off but that is the risk in traveling. We will know next time!
Walking around the streets of Beijing we really stand out. Many people stare and some stop to ask us questions. Brian told me that a Chinese man asked him if Daniel was his son and he told him that he was. The man said "he looks like he is Chinese" Brian said "he is Chinese" the man looked confused as Brian walked away. Sometimes it is the most obvious things that are the most confusing! At the park outside of the Forbidden City two women asked to take pictures with us. They were so sweet but it is so funny that complete strangers are so excited to take our picture. I guess this is what Brad and Angelina must go through everyday:)!
Tomorrow we take off for Hohhot the capital city of Inner Mongolia. On Monday morning we will meet Evan! I am starting to get excited and nervous.
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