Wednesday in Beijing
Today was another day full of amazing adventures. Marjie, Susan, and I met up with our tour guide bright and early to head over to Tiananmen Square. Our guide was quite open with us about the student demonstrations, as he was 19 during those famous protests. I loved walking around this area and imaging the passion of those students and that image of the student in front of the tank.
From there, we headed to the Forbidden City. I will spare you all the historical details...suffice to say, we were overwhelmed with the majesty and grandeur. The pictures don't do it justice. Generations of emperors and the communities that supported them could be imagined scurrying about taking care of their daily lives.
The Temple of Heaven was out final site for the day. This was one of our favorite stops. This vast garden serves many purposes....most notably, a community center. Women retire at the age of 50-55, men 60-65. Many seniors meet up in this area. There were some groups sitting around the singing....just for fun. Picture a group of middle something's singing folk songs in a beautiful grassy area.
Ladies were busy with handcrafts ready to sell to the interested passer-by. Not pushy, at all. Just enjoying their community of retirees. There were many families from the country on summer vacation. The Beijing students are still in school.
This area was very spiritual and offered some of the most beautiful buildings we've seen. I'll send Patrick some pictures to post soon!
We had the best meal of the week after this touring....every dish was vegetarian and scrumptious. They cook with a lot of spicy heat so just few bites were plenty.
Til later!
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