We had an enjoyable day visiting the city of Beijing. We awoke very early this AM. We enjoyed a nice breakfast buffet. We have enjoyed trying new things especially mulberry juice and steamed buns. We met our large group and started the day out with a tour of Tiananmen Square. The sky was bright blue. The air cool, but the wind was blowing hard all day. On the way we saw several interesting sites. On the drive to the center of the city we passed by a few of the old hutong neighborhoods. A hutong neighborhood is a cluster of small homes with a maze of courtyards. The entire neighborhood is then enclosed by a brick wall. There are gateways in which if the traffic is not moving fast one can catch a glance into the life of the neighborhood. The hutong neighborhoods are rapidly being replaced by high rise apartments.
Tiananmen Square is at the heart of the city were the old China and new China meet. The entire area is huge and is flanked by wide streets on the four sides. Government buildings line the wide streets. Monuments are in the center of the square. We walked the square with the thousands of other tourists, most of them native Chinese. We saw young soldiers marching. We saw dragon kites flying high in the brisk breeze. There were quite a few venders and we were told to say no. Rulon wanted a hat, so after that he was targeted by every vender there. Mao’s portrait was huge and hung at the entrance to his mausoleum. Our guide was Mr. Lian. He did a wonderful job of keeping our group together and educating us all on the history of the sites. We then walked to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was where the Emperor, his family, servants and other nobles lived. The Emperor was considered to be the Son of Heaven who was responsible for peace, prosperity and harmony for the world. Large red walls enclose the courts. The building began in the early 1400’s and was occupied by an Emperor until the early 1900’s. The inner court was where the Emperor lived. The city was opened to tourists in 1920. In 1921 David O Mckay a Christian missionary traveled to China where in the inner court he said a prayer where he dedicated the land of China for the preaching of the gospel of Christ.
We left the Forbidden City to have lunch at the “Duck King Peking Duck Restaurant”. Their specialty is Roast duck. The lunch was wonderful. The food was similar to dishes served at the better Chinese restaurants in the states.
After we drove for a little over an hour we came to The Great Wall of China. On the drive over the countyside looked similar to the western USA. The soil is sandy, the wind is blowing and the mountains are similar in appearance to the smaller Rocky Mountains. The Great Wall was amazing. It represents the pinnacle of 2,000 years of wall building in northern China. Some of the sections date back to the 5th century. It stretches for 2,500 miles. We hiked around for over an hour. Tired, we came back to the bus and rode to the hotel. Tomorrow we will travel to Changsha City, Hunan early in the morning. We enjoyed our stay in Beijing.
Good night,
Joanna
Hear us, o kind Heavenly father, we implore thee, and open the door for the preaching of thy Gospel from one end of this realm to the other…May thy Kingdom come, and Thy will be done speedily here on earth among all peoples, kindreds and tongues preparatory to the winding up scenes of these latter days.
