We toured Tiananmen square and the Forbidden City in the morning. It was incredible to see. The emperors lived the high life. There were many street vendors as we walked to each site and they were very aggressive. We have two wonderful tour guides and they taught us how to deal with them by saying "boo yao" which means I don't want it. They said the items being sold were cheaper in stores and at the hotels and anyway if you did buy something the vendors would swarm around you like fresh meat. None from our group purchased anything but we did see other tourists being hounded.
The Chinese people are fascinated by our blonde girls and many times they asked for pictures with them. Abby loved it and Emily was a good sport too. I guess they felt like celebrities for the day.
We were pleasantly surprised to find a Starbucks Coffee in the inner courtyard of the Forbidden City. Still dealing with Jet lag, a latte was a welcome treat.
We had a wonderful lunch, family style and ate many different types of Chinese food. I don't even know what they all were. I don't think we were eating anything too exotic but we will never know as our waiters did not speak English. Abigail had a sprite for lunch! She liked how her pop can looked with the Chinese characters so she saved it. She had eaten 2 omelets for breakfast, so were not concerned about her.
We toured a silk factory after lunch and spent way too much money, but each of the females got at least one item. I got nothing! After that we toured the Summer Palace of the Emperor, which was even more impressive than the Forbidden City in my opinion. Hundreds of acres of trees buildings and a large lake with a walkway all around.
Only a few more days until we go to get Allison and you can feel the excitement building among the families. There are 11 in our group and many brought there children along so it is quite a group.
We officially get her on April 3rd which I think is April 2nd back home.
We will keep you posted. Please keep us in your prayers.
Ken
