May 2, 2008

I realize I have a lot of catching up to do. We have been so busy, doing so many great things that I haven't had much time to post. So, I will do my best to update on what we did yesterday (Friday).

After getting ready, we had breakfast delivered to our room. We met our guide, Helen, downstairs and got on the van to meet the other family in our travel group. We could not have a better fit and have gotten along great with them! They have a 9-year-old boy, Austin, that has gotten along great with Cackie. They are also adopting a 4-year-old boy. You'll never guess what his name is going to be...Owen! How weird!

The first stop we made on this day was to Tiananmen Square.

This is when I started to notice that we were the center of attention to the locals, because we are the ones that look different. There were many Chinese taking pictures of us. Deanna also reminded me that they are fascinated by my blonde hair. That never crossed my mind until now! They are also fascinated by the children...we kept telling Austin that he was a rock star! They are also fascinated when they see Cackie, a Chinese English-speaking girl, with Caucasian parents.

After looking around at Tiananmen Square, we went into the Forbidden City. Here are some pictures from our adventure there....

After our walk around the Forbidden City, we went to a local restaurant and tried various Chinese foods. Everything I tried was delicious!

When we finished eating, we had our first experience with squat toilets. Of course, Cackie & I were lucky and got a Western toilet in the bathroom this time. Deanna got to experience it though....I got my turn later! It wasn't so bad...just something I'm not used to.

Then, we were off to a silk factory. They showed us how silk is made and the strength of it. I bought Chinese silk blanket that is inserted to a beautiful, traditional cover. I guess it can kind of be compared to a duvet cover. Hey, maybe it's an excuse to finally redecorate my bedroom!

From the silk factory, we went on a tour of the Hutong area where we rode a rickshaw! Basically, that is a cart pulled by a man on bike. (I'll have pictures of this later...not downloaded yet) That was definitely one of the highlights and Cackie really enjoyed it! "Hutong" means a small street or a lane between two courtyards. It consisted of very narrow roads and was a great experience of a totally different culture. Part of our tour consisted of meeting a family and seeing their home. They were both in their 70's...the husband worked with airplanes, the wife kept house. They were both very nice and we felt very honored to be in their home.

After the Hutong tour, we went on to an acrobatics show! This was fabulous! Lots of loud music, crazy stunts and bright costumes. We had tickets on the second row, so we didn't miss a thing! Cackie was beat by this time, and fell asleep just before the show ended.

We then went on to a restaurant for dinner and sampled several different dishes. One of them was Peking duck and tasted fabulous! We all enjoyed it! Well, everyone besides Cackie...she slept thru dinner.

After stuffing our faces and the ride back to the hotel, we were all ready to crash! So, we did. We needed to get plenty of rest for the Great Wall the next day! Great Wall here we come!