Today, we did lots of site seeing. We had a big delicious buffet breakfast in the hotel. Heath called me here at the hotel, and I was able to talk to Emily and Rachel. They were doing fine. Vivian also got to talk to her hubby and children this morning.
At about 9:00 a.m., our tour guide and driver picked us up and we drove to the Forbidden City. We did a tour there. It was really fun and interesting but a little cold. It was probably in the 30s or 40s and windy.
We had lunch at a local family's house, which was fun. They prepared a feast for us and were very sweet. Three generations lived there together. They were outgoing and seemed very happy. They didn't speak any English so our guide translated for us.
After lunch, we took a rickashaw ride through Hutong -- an old neighborhood that has been preserved to keep its old look and feel (instead of being demolished so that skyscrapers could be built there). That was fun, but, again, it was pretty cold. We then went to a local shop for a pot of hot tea, which warmed us all up.
We then toured a local kindergarten. We took candy for all of the children, and, of course, it was a big hit. The children were all so cute. They sang several songs for us. They reminded me so much of my children. The kindergarten was nice.
We then went shopping at the Pearl Market, which is a big shopping area where they have very nice pearls as well as all kinds of souvenirs. You'd think that I would have loved that, but all of the sales people were so pushy that it actually gave me a terrible migraine. I bought a small gift for each of my children, but that was it. We left there early so that I could take my medicine and go back to the hotel for a nap. After about an hour's nap, I woke up feeling better.
We had dinner at a wonderful Chinese dinner show where there was ethnic singing and dancing. It was just lovely, and we enjoyed it very much. I'll post more tomorrow.
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2 comments:
Jo- I'm very happy that you have talked to your family and you know that they are o.k. Breakfast sounded good. It must be great for you and Vivian to see everything together. I think it would be great to visit a local family and actually have a meal with them. I look forward to you telling me about that. The old neighborhood was probably very interesting, too. I bet the little kids were just great. I can just picture you with them. I hope you are feeling o.k. and do not have another headache. Get lots of rest and see everything you can and take lots of pictures to share with us. Love you, Janet
P.S.-- Your pictures look great!
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