Day 2 - Happy Thanksgiving! We woke up and ate downstairs at the western style buffet. It took us a day to figure out they had made to order eggs and omelets. We loaded up on fried rice, fresh fruit, cereal, eggs and pastries. There were no panckages, french toast or waffles for breakfast. Thank you Don for letting me pack my french vanilla powder creamer so I can have my fuufuu coffee. Then at 8am we were off for a day of fun. It would be another busy day.
The first stop was The Forbidden City were the Emperor had ruled. The place was amazing, it was said that there were 9999 1/2 rooms when it was built, but I thought our guide Cha Cha said when someone counted they were really only somewhere around 8,000+ rooms. Still there were a lot. The funniest story though I have to tell you all was that, when the Emperor ruled back in the Ming Dynasty I believe that his color was yellow. All his silks were made of yellow and Cha Cha told us that if anyone but the Emperor was caught wearing yellow they were automatically beheaded. Oh my god!!! Kyle was wearing a gray coat with a yellow lining and he about freaked, he started to cry and kept saying they are going to chop my head off. He didn't hear the part when Cha Cha said they no longer do that that now anyone can wear yellow. It was so funny I couldn't stop myself from laughing. Whenever he started to act up we kept reminding him "Behave remember you are wearing yellow". That's bad but it worked that day.
The outside of the Forbidden City...
Entering the Forbidden City...
A family photo...
A cute picture of the boys...
The kids' fan club...
The Forbidden City was massive...notice the yellow lining in Kyle's coat?
We left the Forbidden City and walked right into Tiannamen Square, which was built in 1417 as the front door to The Forbidden City. The square is huge, about 440,000 square meters. Mao Zedong Memorial Hall is at the South side of the square, and this hall contains the crystal coffin for Chairman Mao, the founder of the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party. Everywhere we went along the square we were hounded by street vendors wanted to know if we wanted to buy a souvenir from the Olympics. We finally gave in and the kids each got a ski cap from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I let down do all the bartering for the items, since he had all the conversion cards on how much stuff cost. It was quite an experience. We stayed in the square for just a short while then went to lunch then off to the Summer Palace.
Our guide Cha Cha. Kyle would sing to her everyday, "Cha Cha Cha Cha". She thought it was very funny...
My 2nd favorite place (behind the Great Wall) that we visited, the Summer Palace. It was the Emperor's Summer home. It was surrounded by a man made lake. I would have like to have seen a little more and spent a little more time here, but unfortunately Kyle had another bloody nose. It was very beautiful and peaceful. There was a nice walkway and beautiful painted ceilings along the corridors along the lake.
My favorite view...
On the way back to the hotel, we had "extra" time, so we detoured to the Silk Market (a tourist trap). I got suckered in to buying two new pillows and a silk blanket for Megan. It was interesting to see the life of a silkwork and how it is all done. Did you know the life of a silkworm is only 45 days from the time they hatch until they die? Here are the stages of a silkworm...
Touring the factory...
The silk is very strong...
We got to help stretch the silk for making comforters...
We made it back to the hotel and just went to dinner at the hotel restaurant for a sandwich and pizza, then off to rest. We had to leave at 7:30 am tomorrow morning for The Great Wall, the highlight of our trip.
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