Forbidden City and Beijing Duck

Our second attempt to go to the Forbidden City was a success, but our attempt to go to the Mao masoleum failed. There were about 500 Chinese people lined up to go in and pay their respects to the former leader of China and it was also freezing, so much to my dad's chagrin we gave it a miss. The Forbidden City is one of my favorite sight seeing spots in China. I believe it was one of my Dad's also. Here are some of our photos of our day.



Dad and Gemma with the gorgeous red doors.



One of my favorite pictures of red doors.









Here are some pictures of the renovation done to the Forbidden City in preparation for the Beijing Olympics.







Here we are in the Forbidden City! Don't we look cold! Gemma and I are sporting our new Beijing Olympic hats we bought from the street vender for 15 rmb for two ($2)!



While we were going to the Forbidden City I called our friend Owen and we had the pleasure of him and Xavier joining us for lunch. We went to one of the most famous Beijing Duck restaurants in Beijing called Li Qun's Kao Ya.



Here is my Dad giving the Beijing Duck a try. Beijing Duck consists of sliced roast duck which you put on a thin pancake with cucumbers, some type of onion that is similar to a green onion, and house sauce. It is absolutely delicious!!!



Here is all of the food we ordered. We had a set menu with lots of different dishes.

After our lunch Owen and Xavier took us to the airport to go back to Chengdu. Here is a picture of Gemma and Xavier before we went back to the 'Du.

Dad's Trip to China

My dad had been planning to retire in October and then make a trip to China to see the sites and visit us! I was so excited to show him the sites, but also interested in his impressions and culture shock. It took us about 1 hour to find each other at the airport because our flight was delayed in Chengdu an hour due to fog.

On our first evening we checked into the hotel and then headed to one of my favorite haunts in China, The Bookworm. It is my home away from home in Chengdu and why should it be different in Beijing! We had a nice dinner and went to bed early.

On our first day we had strict orders from my Mom to have my Dad have a couple suits made. We went to Yashow market which was conveniently located across the street from our hotel, and found a tailor that was recommended by a lady that used to live in Beijing. We found some stylish fabric and a lovely single breasted suit pattern and had those both made for just a little over $200. We ended up doing quite a bit of shopping as Dad wanted to start buying from a long list of family, friends, etc.



After shopping we had a quick bite and we were off to the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square. Unfortunately the Forbidden City stops selling tickets at 3:30 pm and we couldn't get in. We ended up walking over the Tian'anmen Square to have a look. Here are some of our photos.



Tian'anmen Square



Gemma flying the flag in the square!



Gemma and Dad in front of Mao's mausoleum. I have tried to talk him out of seeing Mao embalmed, but we are going back on Tuesday.



Gemma and Dad



Across from Tian'anmen Square there are a few government buildings and one sports the Beijing Olympic countdown sign. You can see several of these signs all over town. They are all about the Olympics and have tons of shops set up at every tourist site.

Chinese Acrobats

After our visit to the Temple of Heaven, Hong Qiao Pearl Market, and our scrumptious lunch of Peking Duck we grabbed a taxi and headed for the Chinese Acrobats. I had only seen Chinese Acrobats in the Barnum & Bailey's Circus about 3 years ago and I thought they were good. I really thought they would be similar, but this was just incredible.

First of all every move they made I felt myself gripping my armrests as every bend made my body ache. I just can't believe how flexible these people are and how well choreographed everything was. The show as just over an hour, but worth every little penny we spent. I am sad to say the videos that I took of the evening need to be edited and I am not sure if I will be able to figure out how to fix them. I do have a little video below of the bicycle riders. All was just fantastic!



After the acrobats we headed to The Beijing Bookworm for a little snack and a drink and to make plans for our trip to the Great Wall the next day!

Temple of Heaven-Beijing Duck

On Sunday Brian and I took it a bit easier and headed to the Temple of Heaven. I haven't been there before so it was a great surprise for both of us. The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven. As Chinese emperors called themselves 'The Son of Heaven' ,they dared not to build their own dwelling,’ Forbidden City' bigger than a dwelling for Heaven.

We walked through the entrance and found a bunch of men writing Chinese calligraphy with water and a sponge-type brush. It was quite interesting.



The Calligraphers



Here we are getting ready to go through the first entrance. There were four different entrances we needed tickets for.



Here I am in front of one of the temples.



One of the gates.



A picture of the temple through a gate.



Another temple.



A picture of the roof inside the temple.



The interior of the temple.



Beautiful red doors! If you haven't noticed by now I have a fascination with these gorgeous Chinese-style doors.



We met some Buddhist monks from the Sichuan (the province where we live) area of Tibet. Brian was so excited to get his picture taken with the Lama.



We also had pictures taken with his monks.

After our trip to the Temple of Heaven we headed to the Hong Qiao Pearl Market for some retail therapy, or so we thought. We were greeted with " Hello Lady, wanna buy a (fill in the blank)" Brian was quite shocked by the aggressiveness of the sale people. Not only do they try to get you to look at their goods, but they will physically grab you and pull you over to their stalls. I have to say I actually enjoyed the expression on Brian's face when this was happening. Luckily no one was injured, Brian or the salespeople. We did do pretty well in the shopping department. We both were able to get new backpacks for a much reduced price. We also did quite a bit of jewelry shopping. I am just so impressed with the costume jewelry here in China. I guess that is why I never used to wear jewelry in the US because of how expensive they were.

After our very mentally strenuous shopping excursion we headed to have lunch at a place that specialized in Peking Duck. I absolutely love this very famous dish! They serve it with Chinese pancakes, cucumbers, a type of green onion and hoisen sauce. You make yourself a little Chinese taco and it is extremely delicious.

Here is our duck being cut for us!

After our fine lunch we headed to the hotel to relax before our evening out with the Chinese Acrobats!

Jingshan Park-Forbidden City-Tian'anmen Square

On our first day in Beijing we headed to Jingshan Park. It is a beautiful park just north of the Forbidden City. We had gorgeous weather and blue skies, which is not very common in China's big cities.

We walked around the park and there were lots of people around playing musical instruments and dancing. There were other people playing cards and young people playing hackysack. Everyone was happy and having a great time. We stopped and watch some dancers that were really having a nice time. I have a little video clip for your enjoyment!



We walked around the park, which was really beautiful. Jingshan Park is a beautiful imperial park and in former times belonged only to the emperors in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties (1271-1911). For their enjoyment they used to climb the hill, admire the scenery and eat and drink in the park.


Brian thought he should dress accordingly.



Here is Brian with the Forbidden City in the background.



A temple in the park.



The gorgeous peony garden! They are one of my favorite flowers!

After the park we headed to the Forbidden City for tour. We hired a guide to accompany us through the city. It was well worth the money and very entertaining. Here are some of our photos.

Me and Brian

Brian with his new favorite beer "Yan Jing" and our guide David Yang. (Yes, you can walk around these tourist attractions and drink beer!)

Brian and me with our guide David

Outside the Forbidden City and the big painting of Chairman Mao.

We headed to lunch at a place recommended by my friend Irini. It was a place called Din Tai Feng which served dumplings. These weren't just any dumplings, but dumplings with soup inside them. She told me that her husband and she called them "dumplings from heaven". She was lying, they were heavenly!!!

After our beautiful lunch we headed to Tian'anmen Square. We were a bit disappointed as there isn't much to see there. Brian got his first chance to bargin on something. There was a guy selling Mao watches and I made the mistake of saying hello to him. The guy would not leave us alone. Brian ended up buying the watch at the end of it and making a new friend.

Brian and the watch guy!

A picture from the Square looking over at the Forbidden City.

More to come!!!