Day 2 - Sunny and Shinning

The day started out 30 minutes earlier then we expected. The wake up call being at 6:00am, we quickly got ready and went to breakfast. We were caught in the elevator all the way down. We went to the Temple of Heaven after freshening up after breakfast. Crazy bike riders were nearly hit many times as we drove to the temple. The Temple of Heaven was very blue, apparently this color represents the Gods because they live in the sky. While there, my 2 gig memory card to my camera decided it would only accept half of the pictures I took, those of the Forbidden City, so a huge memory card exchange ensued with Pedro and Fernando. While at the main temple, many people wanted pictures of Savanna and I. We did not know the people, but posed with them anyway. We later guessed it was the light skin, different eyes, and hair color. In the Temple there was a smaller section that had a round wall. It would echo when you spoke to the wall, and the people on the other side of the courtyard could hear you as if you were standing next to each other. While at the Temple, we played with hacky sacks, and bought a few.

We went to lunch after touring the temple. Cute place, but I was only able to eat rice. We had a great time laughing, the kids’ table being the loudest in the place. When we finished eating, we proceeded onto the Summer Palace. There we saw the huge man made lake, and got to take a boat across it at the end. It was called the “Dragon Boat”. Before we took the boat, we walked and saw where the Empress slept, and walked down the long corridor, which is a half a mile long. It was very beautiful. During this tour, more people wanted to take pictures of Savanna and I, they were practically waiting in line. The Summer Palace was amazing and colorful, like the Temple of Heaven. The next place we went after the Summer Palace was the Olympic Arenas, the Birds Nest and the Water Cube. To get to them, we had to get off the bus and walk across a huge bridge, and then they were still very far away. I wanted to touch the Birds Nest though, so Tatiana and I made a mad dash to the arena, making it there and back in 20 minutes. Keep in mind the distance from point A to point B was at least three football fields length wise. It turns out that I couldn’t touch the building in the end, there was a fence around it and you had to pay to enter. That was saddening, but we still got to see many things! Beijing reminds me of the San Francisco area of California. Next we went to a tea house, and were served traditional tea and ate dinner. The tea I liked was the Fruit tea. For dinner, I was able to eat corn, bread, bac choi, and potatoes. Apparently we looked old enough to be served beer without even asking. I have never seen Mrs. Simonson move so fast to remove those bottles from our table. That was alright though, we had fun. The last part of the day was when we went to the oldest tea house in China, drank tea and watched a show of random talents, a variety show. The show was very unusual, but colorful with some interesting parts, some odd. The coolest were the guys who did tricks with the long spout metal tea pots. We then went to the hotel for sleep. I must admit, I long for my bed every night, but I couldn’t have asked for a better group to travel with. Still I do miss not being able to read anything I want any time I want. Tune in next time for our adventures at the Great Wall. Will we be in high spirits or exhausted from the massive clime? Maybe time will tell…

Random details

• The toilets are holes in the ground, porcelain and flushable, whoever, so you have to squat in order to use them. We call them squat toilets. They are not as bad as they sound.
• The Temple of Heaven has two meanings to its walls. The circle walls mean Heaven, the square walls mean Earth. The Emperor only visited the temple three times a year, Winter Solstice, Summer Solstice, and Chinese New Year. This was to pray for good harvest and greet their father. The Emperors were believed to be the children of Heaven. Women were not allowed into the temple until after 1911.
• At the Temple of Heaven, there is a point that is “The Center of the Universe”. Yes, in spite of science’s claim that the Earth is not the center of the Universe, it is actually in China and can be visited. We each took turns standing on it, thus proving that the world does revolve around us.
• The original Summer Palace burned down in the 1700’s. It was rebuilt for the Empress at the time in the 1880’s. They took funds from the Navy to do this. This is the reason the Japanese Navy was able to defeat them and take back Taiwan.
• The Birds Nest and Water Cube are now Olympic museums. They draw in some of the largest income China receives. People pay to see where Olympic athletes competed.
• Bag tea is only the tea powder, low quality in taste and brand, pure leaves are thought to be better.
• Fresh water oysters produce pearls in sets of 20, while salt water oysters produce only one pearl in a lifetime.

This portion of the blog was a compilation between: Taryn and Tatiana