Beijing Last Day

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Today we got up at 6:30 to go have breakfast so that we could meet our guide by 8:30.  We checked out of the hotel and off we went to the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace).  We spent quite a bit of time there and heard a lot of history on it and took a lot of pictures. It’s a very beautiful place with a lot of old history.

After that tour we went on to a Hutong tour in a Rickshaw.  Hutong actually means ‘water well’.  At one time there are a lot of water wells in this area.  This is an area with a very old history as well.  This is an area with families who may have lived in the home for many generations. It is interesting because you can tell what type of family lives in the home by their door.  The bigger the door the more important the family is.  Also looking at the number of ‘stars’ above the door you can tell how important the family is.  In the picture I have, this family has been at one time a higher ranking family because they have 4 stars above the door and the door is quite big.  Another thing you can see the two figures in front of the door are round shaped, or shaped like a drum.  This family was probably a military family. 

Another interesting fact is the threshold. Many doorways have this threshold, both here and in the Imperial Palace.  This is to keep the evil spirits out.  The threshold also represents the shoulders of a family member so you don’t ever want to step on the threshold, you always step over it.  Men step over with their left foot first and women step over it with their right foot first. 

After the Hutong tour we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant again.  She ordered us noodles, which Meikiina especially loved!  I loved the beef and green peppers.  But there was also some type of uncooked greens and I sure hope I’m not going to pay for that.  I know I should not ever eat anything that’s uncooked or can’t be peeled.  My tummy is hurting a bit (not bad, but a bit) so I pray that I will be ok by morning.  After lunch we went to the airport to catch our flight to Nanjing!  This was our 3^rd flight and 3 out of 3 have been delayed. 

We made it to Nanjing and to our hotel, which is lovely!  We Skyped home and talked for a bit.  We got some pictures of Willem and got to show them his pictures.  He looks even bigger and older.  We found out that we will receive him at 2:00 pm Nanjing time, so it will be 1:00 am at home.  By the time we get back to the hotel with him and have spent a bit of time with him we will get to Skype home so they can see him. 

Well I’m going to put this for now and will add pictures later as it is very late.