The end of the Silk Road...

August 5:

We started the day heading back into Beijing. After dropping Jen off at work, we headed to Ti'anamen to see Mao's body. Unfortunately, when we got there the line was over an hour long (outside in the sun). So, we decided to skip it. The square was much more crowded this time, though, so it was interesting to see just how many people can actually fit in the square - it was designed to hold one million.

Our next stop was the Summer Palace. It was extraordinary!! This is where the emperors and empresses would go in the summer to get away from the heat of the city. It is considered part of Beijing today, but it was outside the city then. As soon as you enter you see this sprawling lake with paddleboats and dragon boats on it. To the left of the entrance is Seventeen Arch Bridge, which takes you to a temple on an island. To the right are various pavilions and the living quarters of the imperial family. This includes a theater that Cixi had built for opera. We did see a performance there of dancers, musicians, and pantomime.

The living quarters are amazing. Many of the items here belonged to Cixi, and her room is supposedly just as she left it when she died in 1908. We were here when Antonio received a call from Jennifer that she needed to be picked up. So, we headed back to get our bags out of the car. That ended up being serendipitous.

When we returned, we opted to take a dragon boat over to Longevity Hill. By going that route, we unloaded and went to the left of the hill. We immediately saw Cixi's "marble" dragon boat. She had intended to build an entire imperial navy of the boats, but only one was actually built. It is supposedly unsinkable. We then went around to the back of the hill to see SuZhu Street. Since the imperials did not get to go about the city as normal people would, they had this street built. It was filled with shops and such so that they could walk down and "play" shop - complete with pickpockets! It was a truly lovely area with drawbridges and a canal.

This allowed us to climb up the hill from the back side. By going this route, you meander at a more leisurely (and less crowded) pace on rocks versus steps. Somehow, this was not as tiring to us. When you reach the top from the back, you come to the Temple of the Sea God. It is gold and green with what looks like Buddhas all over it. You continue up and around to see the Temple of Buddhist Incense. It's absolutely gorgeous, and although the smog obstructed the view a bit, it was breathtaking.

We climbed back down the front of Longevity Hill to the halls where diplomats were received and Cixi held her birthday parties. Then, you get to the Long Corridor, which leads back to the living quarters. It is masterfully painted with scenic views of the lake the entire length of it. Much of the palace had been destroyed by the Anglo-French forces during the Opium wars in the 1860s, but it was rebuilt in 1886. We spent many hours there, and we absolutely loved it.

We took the subway back to our hotel. The subway is very clean and very digital. It is also cheap - only 2 yuan! It is set up the Paris Metro, and it's so easy to use.

August 6:

Jen and the kids joined us in Beijing today. We went to the zoo to see the giant pandas. The pandas live in the Sichuan area, and there are so few left even in captivity. They were neat to see, but the zoo does not have the best living conditions and it was very crowded, so we opted to not see any more of it.

We ate lunch at Blue Frog. It is a westernized bar and grill in the Sanlitun Village. This is the area of Beijing where most of the embassies are located. It was excellent food, as was the Cold Stone Creamery ice cream afterwards :-).

We went to a Chinese acrobat show. Although Antonio had called the day before to reserve our tickets, there had apparently been some mix-up. It worked out for us, though, because we had paid for the cheapest seats and ended up in the front row! It was so amazing.

Once back at the hotel, we went on a search for a KTV. They are karaoke bars where patrons can sing in the big area or groups can get their own private rooms. Sadly, we must have gotten lost. We ended up at a restaurant for appetizers and drinks. Then, we called it a day.

August 7:

We started the day by visiting Olympic Park. We went into the Bird's Nest (had to pay). The stadium is very cool, architecturally. They had some of the opening ceremony props on display, a wax museum of the International Olympic Committee's presidents since 1896 (a bit creepy), and a great view of the Cube. The Cube has now been transformed into an indoor water park, complete with an artificial beach. It's a great use of the building/center.

We took the subway (they had created a line just for the Olympic area) to the Pearl Market. Antonio had gotten into an accident and had to go to an insurance office. We spent hours there - bought some necklaces, ate, and again spent so much money. At least I got Carolyn her shoes :-). Bartering has become second nature, but these salespeople were even more aggressive and assertive than those at the Silk Market. We had intended to go to the Temple of Heaven afterwards, but we instead ate a leisurely Sichuan dinner (hot pot!) before heading to the shadow puppet show.

Unfortunately, Antonio had not checked his directions and got lost. After calling the place and having them tell us they wouldn't start the show until we got there, we stayed lost and learned it would take 20 more minutes to get there. We were embarassed that the others there to see the show had to wait on us, so we called them back and told them to go on without us. Sadly, we headed back to Tianjin. Jen talked with Antonio again. Apparently, in China, this "saving face" is common in the men; they won't acknowledge when they don't know something. Antonio always tells Jen that he knows where he's going, but he has gotten lost more than once. He apologized.

August 8:

Spa day! We just relaxed all morning. In the afternoon, we went to Andy, Jen's hair stylist. He has a spa, and we all got pedicures and massages. For only $32, I got a pedi and a 90 minute massage. It was different than the ones I had gotten in the US, but it was so relaxing. We had Jen's Italian beef and Ellen's fried rice for dinner. We then watched The Dilemma and stayed up until one watching Modern Family episodes. It was a fun way to end our stay here.

We leave tomorrow to fly to Seoul for our 18 hour layover. It will be sad to go, but it's been a long trip and home beckons. The language barrier here is the hardest I have faced, so every activity takes just that little bit longer. It will be good to be home.