beijing

Our trip started in China's capital city to soak up some culture. The way our flights worked out was a bit of a gift from God: we had to get up in the wee sma's to get down to O'Hare to catch a 6 am flight. This meant our sleep pattern was already shifted (or completely messed up, as I like to think of it...) and we were somewhat ready to be 13 hours ahead of Central Time. 

The timing on the other end was also fantastic: we really only had time to go out and eat dinner before going to bed. Yay for not having to really start touring until the next day! Our guide took us to a restaurant that is famous for its dumplings*. They were really quite good, though I was so tired I couldn't eat much.

Then began the whirlwind tour. We drove past Tiananmen Square, heading towards the Forbidden City**.

The dragon staircase: only the emperor was allowed to walk on the center 'carpet'.

Next up was a tea shop (nothing quaint, though the nook in which we tasted was fun) and we had several samples of tea.

I'll do a full post on tea later!

Then we stopped by a silk factory, then had lunch, which featured the famous goomba*** chicken (it was yummy and I was glad to have my appetite back). 

After lunch was our Hutong tour, which included a rickshaw ride. A Hutong is a narrow street and we toured a home that was part of 'old' Beijing, and is fast becoming scarce. We opted for some arts and crafts on this tour, and tried our hand at calligraphy and opera mask painting.

Then it was off to the theater to watch an acrobat show****, after which we had dinner. We ate at Old Beijing and had buns and noodles--very delicious and I wished I had had more room in my stomach!

The next morning we set off towards the Great Wall, stopping at a Jade demo factory along the way.

It turned into a hot morning, so we got ice cream after hiking up and back. Once we caught our breath, it was off to the Cloisonne demo factory and lunch. We then headed over to the summer palace. This is a family destination, especially when the weather is nice, and there's plenty to see and quite a few places to rest (there's quite a walking path), too.

The lake is man made and extremely popular, as this part of the country doesn't have a lot of bodies of water. We took a dragon boat across to where we had started, which was fun (and relaxing). Then dinner and packing, as we needed to be ready early to head to the airport!





*a lot of Americans know these as potstickers
**all photos are straight from the camera, and only my camera--I haven't downloaded Chip's pictures yet
***no idea how to spell this
****tiny sample on my Instagram account