Beijing, China

We flew into Beijing and we were picked up by our guide, Lee.  We arrived at our hotel, and were taken to our tenth floor room by the bell boy. He showed us how the electronic key card was needed for the control of the elevator.  After supper, another person used their key on the elevator so we got to our floor.  When we tried to open the door to our room, we found the key would not work.   When I went down to have the electronic key reset, I couldn't  get the elevator to go down. No matter how many times I pressed the card against the reader and kept pressing the floor button, the elevator would not move.  The elevator was speaking to me in Chinese but as I don't know Chinese, the message couldn't help me. After several more tries, I realized I had been pressing the floor I was on. I could only imagine what the Chinese recording was saying:  "Press the floor you want to go to, dummy, not the one you are on.

Tiananem square:  A huge square that contains Mao Tse Tong's mausoleum.  They have not marked the area where the student stood his ground during the student revolution.

Forbidden City:  A city within a city within a city--the first part where the dignitaries and the emperor met to discuss business, the second part was the entertainment center of ambassadors, etc., and the third part was the living quarters of the emperor and the empress, the concubines, eunuchs, and servants.

The members of our tour group were:  Marla and Dale Eldin from New Jersey,USA, Metta and Kim Olof Salvén from Denmark, Nicole and Marcel Belanger from Quebec. 

Great Wall:  We walked up to the seventh tower on the south side.  The wall stretches for miles and miles as far as you can see.  We were thrilled to finally see and walk on the Great Wall. 

Tea ceremony:  After a long day of sightseeing, we participated in a tea ceremony.  They showed us the proper way to make the different teas, the health benefits of each tea, the smell and taste of different teas.  After the hike on the Great Wall, this was a welcome respite.

Hutong:  Before the days of Communism, the Chinese people lived in their own small communities called hutongs.  Most of these hutongs have been replaced by tall highrise apartments.  We got the chance to visit a home in a hutong. A central courtyard is surrounded by the kitchen dining area, a living room, a batyhroom, bedrooms, and a artist workshop for the son and the brother. It was lived in by a lady and her family, her brother and his family, and the parents.

Temple of Heaven Park:  On a daily basis, all the locals go there to play cards, exercise with tai chi, sing, play musical instruments, folk dance.  This is a  beautiful park with sights to see, and lots of places to sit and relax.

Our next adventure takes us to Xian.