An absolute beautiful day today in Beijing. We were close to 'home' as we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, which is the heart and soul of Govt for China (similar to our Washington D.C. area). This area is the most crowded we have visited yet in Beijing and if you refer to my previous post, you will notice my comment about 'lack of personal space.' This is their culture and not meant to be rude, but it takes some getting used too, for us Americans in a foreign land.
One of the things that we have noticed these past few days is the interest in us by the Chinese. They want their picture taken with us and are not afraid to just run up and stand next to us while a friend takes a picture. In particular, the blond females and the Bross' as they are very tall. At one point, they stood for 10 minutes while a line of Chinese had their picture taken with them. In one instance, Mrs. Rathburn was given a baby to hold so they could get a picture with her.
The Square holds tens of thousands of people and it was packed today. Being the center of Govt, with the Great Hall, The Museum of History, The Monument to the People and the Forbidden City, it is very heavily guarded and secure. Everyone was went through an inspection before being allowed to enter the square. I am not sure if the pictures will do justice to how large it really is.
The Forbidden City is the original home to the empore rsof China and most recently of Chairman Mao, who is memorialized on the wall--pictures will show what I mean. It was surprising how large this walled compound is and is home to over 8000 temples inside. It is over 25 thousand acres square.
After visiting these two areas, we went for a lunch at a local restaurant and were served the largest meal to date with more interesting things to try. Your kids are getting more adventurous with the food each day...this good because we will soon be heading out to the local 'Beijing Snack' street with the spiders, beetles, scorpions, etc.. on a stick. I will make sure to get pictures of the kids trying these delights:)
The evening was spent back at the school enjoying a dinner with some of the Chinese Teachers from the school, while our teachers and administrators were having the traditional dinner and gift exchange with Chairman Li.
All went well and the students are in bed for the night.
One of the things that we have noticed these past few days is the interest in us by the Chinese. They want their picture taken with us and are not afraid to just run up and stand next to us while a friend takes a picture. In particular, the blond females and the Bross' as they are very tall. At one point, they stood for 10 minutes while a line of Chinese had their picture taken with them. In one instance, Mrs. Rathburn was given a baby to hold so they could get a picture with her.
The Square holds tens of thousands of people and it was packed today. Being the center of Govt, with the Great Hall, The Museum of History, The Monument to the People and the Forbidden City, it is very heavily guarded and secure. Everyone was went through an inspection before being allowed to enter the square. I am not sure if the pictures will do justice to how large it really is.
The Forbidden City is the original home to the empore rsof China and most recently of Chairman Mao, who is memorialized on the wall--pictures will show what I mean. It was surprising how large this walled compound is and is home to over 8000 temples inside. It is over 25 thousand acres square.
After visiting these two areas, we went for a lunch at a local restaurant and were served the largest meal to date with more interesting things to try. Your kids are getting more adventurous with the food each day...this good because we will soon be heading out to the local 'Beijing Snack' street with the spiders, beetles, scorpions, etc.. on a stick. I will make sure to get pictures of the kids trying these delights:)
The evening was spent back at the school enjoying a dinner with some of the Chinese Teachers from the school, while our teachers and administrators were having the traditional dinner and gift exchange with Chairman Li.
All went well and the students are in bed for the night.