However, yesterday is the subject of conversation right now. With our tour guide Sam and our Floridian partners Oren and Tova (the Floridians), my mom and I visited the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace. Here, along with some photos, is our journey.
Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven (天坛). Created to serve as a place for the Emperor to make sacrifices to the God of Heaven (天), it currently serves as a park for retirees to exercise and practice hobbies. Due to my martial arts background I took a few pictures of people practicing different forms of T'ai Chi. Above is T'ai Chi Sword and below is normal T'ai Chi and T'ai Chi Ball (which I played briefly).
That is the actual Temple of Heaven, where the Emperor would do sacrifices. Also included are a picture of me and my mom.
That's my mother and me at Tiananmen Square. There were quite a few people there. A girl jumped over the rope near the Chinese flag and a security guard began walking toward her, but her mother grabbed her before he got there. We couldn't go in Mao's Mausoleum because they were apparently doing renovations. While there I also took a picture for American tourists, but then had to retake it when Mao wasn't in the picture.
This is from inside the Forbidden City (古宫). This is my second time in the Forbidden City, and last time I was there the part I took a picture of was under construction. There were a lot of people there.
Last time, that portion was not under construction. I guess they're still getting ready for the Olympics.
In the front of many Chinese buildings, they have two lions: a female one on the left with a lion cub under her foot and a male on the right with a ball under his foot. Heres a mother lion with another mom.
I remember taking a picture of a tree with a crotch last time, so I got one taken again.
Now onto the Summer Palace (颐和园). It was built as a gift to the mother of the third Qing Emperor. I visited here last time I went to China, but it was a cloudy day. This door was just getting the finishing touch-ups on a remodeling job.
That's up on top of a hill in the palace. I didn't go in there, but it looked pretty cool.
This wasn't the dragon boat we rode in, but it was the fanciest one. Before getting on the Dragon Boat Tova, Oren and I got separated from my mom and Sam. I waited for a while, thinking they'd come back and look. It ended up taking them a while to decide to go look for us. That was a little bothersome, but I was probably just reacting to the warmth and sun I had to deal with all day. Overall we had a good time.
After we got back to the hotel my mom and I decided to try to find a Hot Pot place to eat. I asked the front desk clerk for a place and he wrote down a name for me and gave me directions ("Just walk down ten minutes that way"). Of course, I couldn't find it and ended up hailing a cab. He didn't know where it was, either, but asked a bike carriage driver and we found the place. For those who don't know, Hot Pot consists of getting a boiling pot of water with various herbs and seasonings in it, along with a wide assortment of meats and vegetables to dip into the pot and cook yourself. I ordered some standard fare (ribeye slices, cherry tomatoes), some Chinese standards (lotus root, rice noodles), and some rather odd dishes (fish balls, ox spine). All in all we both liked it quite a bit (even the ox spine).
Since we knew where we were we ended up walking back to the hotel. On the way back we stopped at a Chinese supermarket. I had forgotten all my socks at home, so I bought a pair. I also bought some Xylitol gum (my favorite gum when I was in China two years ago), a few bottles of water, and an orange soda. I took a wrong turn in the store, and when we went into the "fresh meat" section my mom said her stomach was ill at ease. We found our way out, however, and headed back to the apartment, falling asleep soon afterwards.
Today we head off to the Great Wall of China. Besides that we will go to a jade factory (I think we went there last time - big tourist trap) and the Ming Tombs (definitely secondary to the Great Wall, but interesting nonetheless). Tomorrow we hop on a plane to Yichang to begin our river cruise.
Hoo boy, China's fun.
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