FW: Our Last Day in Beijing

Today was our last day in Beijing.  We started out the day early in order to make it to all of the places we wanted to go.  There is so much traffic, and we have been in several traffic jams.  There are few rules on the road, and I made the mistake of asking our guide how many car accidents there are.  She says not many, but then we see 4 or 5 wrecks right after that, none of them serious.  We are told that there is traffic control in place during the week that allows cars with liscense plates ending in even or odd numbers to drive on certain days of the week.  On the weekend, though, anyone can drive.  And they do!  There are 18 million people liviing in Beijing, and many have cars, so you can imagine how bad the traffic was.

 

Our first stop was Tianamen Square.  It is very big, holding approximately a half a million people.  We saw a monument erected to remember those who died during their wars, and we saw where Chairman Mao would come out on the balcony to talk to the people.  When you see the picture, I'm sure you will recognize it from the news or history books.  We then toured the Forbidden City, part of it, I should say.  All of it is not open.  The buildings are beautiful. Most all of the buildings have gates that lead into and out of the different parts of the city, and most of the doorways have high thresholds to keep out the evil spirits.  They believe that the spirits cannot jump over the thresholds. 

 

Next was the silk factory.  We saw how the silk is taken from the cocoons and spun into threads.  We also helped stretch the silk to make a silk blanket.  Cocoons with one pupae in them are used to make thread, while the cocoons with two pupae are stretched to make the blankets.  The silk threads are very coarse and strong, while the silk from the double pupae cocoons are very soft and still very strong.  They had beautiful things to buy here. 

 

Lastly, we went to a Chinese tea house and participated in a traditional tea ceremony.  We tasted three different teas, but the ginseng tea was our favorite.  From the tea house we headed to the airport.  Our flight to Guangzhou was uneventful, thankfully, and we arrived safely.  Our hotel is very nice, and we have seen several families who are adopting and have already had their Gotcha Day.  I'm sure we will meet many more.  Please say a prayer for us as we prepare for Sophie's arrival in a few short hours!