Bei Jing

March 25, Tuesday
Day 3
We started the day with a visit to the Temple of Heaven, built in 1420 A.D. , where the emperors prayed to heaven for a good harvest.
The city is so clean and you can see people sweeping with these stick brooms.

The parks are used my many Chinese for Tai Chi, especially in the morning. Exercise and stretching is very inportant to them.

I heard these ladies playing their flutes in the park and they insisted on playing a tune for me.

On the way to the Ming Tombs, we stopped at the government's Jade Factory- this would be the normal precedure. Kind of like stopping at curio shops in Mexico, but at a very high level.At the Ming Tombs (13), one had been fully excavated and was open for exploration.
Next it was off to the government Cloisonne Factory, and a great lunch.

Next it was off to the Great Wall and what an experience it was. It is 4000 miles long and is the only man made object that can be seen from the moon.

Next we had a massage which was sooo nice after all that walking.
Finally we went to a dinner theater for another Chinese buffet and an acrobatic show.

**Well, here we go again- another continent, another hair curler bites the dust!!

How about getting a dual voltage one, Judy??!!

from my sister Judy-Tuesday, March 25 ~ (What happened to Monday?) A 6:00 AM wake-up call got us started after only four and a half hours of sleep. We met everyone for a buffet breakfast that turned out to be delicious and different ~ part American and part Chinese. Alan collected all of us at 7:30 AM and we boarded Bus 6, driving through Beijing on the way to the Temple of Heaven. Alan discussed today's schedules, gave a history of Beijing, and taught us some Chinese words. Beijing is in the midst of widespread reconstruction and building because of the 2008 Olympics. Alan said that the number 8 is very important for the Chinese, so the Olympics will be held on 08-08-08 - August 8, 2008, even though it will be extremely hot during that time of year. We visited the Temple of Heaven Palace. Many Chinese people were in the park surrounding the palace doing morning exercises. Some were doing Tai Chi, some were playing Hakky Sak, some were stretching, and some were walking backwards up the palace steps. Exercising is very important for the Chinese and you frequently see them exercising; especially, in the morning. The Temple of Heaven Palace was a beautiful, tall temple with the traditional, upturned roofline. There were several out-buildings that served as museums, as well. We drove to the Jade Gallery factory where we learned about the various colors and qualities of jade. We also saw people carving intricate jade pieces. After examining quite a few pieces, we bought a pair of jade earrings and two small statues that represent our Chinese zodiac animals - the goat and the snake. A fairly long drive took us to the Ming Tombs. The Chinese government excavated only one of the tombs and had a display of artifacts from the tomb. There were beautiful, gold pieces and very unusual and unique crowns and headpieces. There were several uniformed men patrolling the tomb and Paul found out that the green uniforms are army, the blue uniforms are police, and the gray uniforms are security guards. The elaborate buildings are repaired and reconstructed regularly by the government tokeep them in good shape. Because of this, they look fairly new but are really quite old. As we travel the streets and roads, we have noticed a lot of construction and repair in anticipation of the Olympics. Lots of trees are being planted and roadsides are being beautifully landscaped. We have also noticed a great discrepancy in living conditions. There are many, new, high-rise apartments whichcan be next to an expanse of small, decrepit shanties. Quite acontrast! We drove to the Cloisonne Factory where the workers demonstrated the intricate processes of creating cloisonne jewelry andvases. We were served a delicious, family-style dinner on the second floor, complete with a wide variety of Chinese dishes. Our shopping experience at Cloisonne included earrings and Christmas ornaments. The Chinese developed the Cloisonne method, but the French are often credited with that discovery. We drove out of town and up into the mountains to the Ju Yong section of the Great Wall of China. The wall was started in 700 A.D. to protect China from Mongolian invasions from the north. The wall runs for 4,000 miles, but many sections are no longer standing. We climbed a portion of the wall and took loads of pictures. What a unique and memorable experience that was! In late afternoon, we arrived at the restaurant complex where we were to spend the evening. We had the opportunity to enjoy a one-hour massage prior to dinner. About 15 of us were ushered into a large room filled with lounge chairs. We enjoyed a shoulder, neck, head, arm, and foot massage. What a wonderful experience! We were escorted into a large dinner/theater style restaurant where we enjoyed a buffet dinner. We're not quite sure about the bottles of tea that had bats and other critters floating in them! Following dinner, we were entertained by Chinese acrobats that were positively phenomenal. One could hardly believe what they were able to do. We arrived back at the hotel around 9:00 PM and collapsed into bed. We spent a phenomenal day in a unique country!