Thursday,
November 6, 2014
Today was another full day of tours! It was a very long day.
Especially since some of us are still suffering from
the jet lag and time change. Chase was up most of the night
walking around and at one point was doing his homework in the
wee hours of the morning.
After another great Buffet breakfast we met our guide in the
lobby at 900. Today was a little bit colder than the day before.
The sky is still clear and blue, which is really unusual for
Beijing. Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven. Parker was
especially excited about this because last year he had done a
report on it. Surrounding the exterior there were lots of people
exercising, singing, dancing and playing cards. Our guide says
the retirement community comes here to spend their days visiting
with friends. We were also reprimanded again more times than I
can count because the boys were wearing shorts again.
The Temple of Heaven was where the Emperor once came to worship
to the God of Heaven. It is made from all wood. The artwork and
architecturoue are amazing. We walked through several different
areas and ended where there is a stone called
The center of Heaven stone which is suppose to Echo when a
person stands on it and speaks. Chase, Susan and Robin fought
the crowds to stand on the stone.
Next we visited a pearl market where they have freshwater
clams. The lady did a demonstration and had each person guess
how many pearls were in each clam. Chase got the closest with a
guess of 20. The were all different beautiful colors. She gave
each of the kids a pearl from the clam. We also chose a set of
pearls for our new daughter Hope and a set of earrings. We bought Zoe's pearls at the same place five years ago.
We ate lunch next and had more food than we knew what to do
with. Conor decided to try many of the dishes and agreed the
food here is nothing like the food back home.
We then headed out the Summer Palace. Which is a beautiful
palace set around a large lake. Last time we were here the lake
was frozen. The artwork was once again amazing. The boys all
climbed to the top of the mountain for some more pictures
while we girls waited on the bottom. Conor took some amazing
pictures from the top. At the exit we bought each of the kids
artwork with their names painted on it. It was amazing watching
her paint each letter using an animal or flower to represent the
letter.
Then we headed back to town to meet up with Susan whom I met
through Zoe's adoption. She was the one who matched us with Zoe.
Steve and I met her for dinner last time we were in Beijing and
also saw her at a Chinese New years festival that she
visited while in Portland. We had an amazing visit. First we
walked around her neighborhood, then we went with her to pick up
her daughter from school. Her daughter Ying Ying and Zoe
connected immediately. We then went back and seen their home. It
had two bedrooms, a small kitchen, bathroom and a closed in
backyard. It was really neat being able to see inside.
We had a great time visiting and hearing about Susan's work with
different orphanages. We ended the night with an amazing dinner
with them at a Dumpling restaurant. Her mother joined us for
dinner also. The food was once again delicious! Zoe and Ying
Ying hugged each other several times goodbye, it was such a cute
thing to watch.
We got back to the hotel late and the internet was not working
well so hence the late update. Tomorrow is the Great Wall! |
Kids in front of Temple of Heaven
Center of Heaven Stone
Pictures taken by Conor from the top of the Mountain at Summer
Palace
Ying Ying and Zoe playing in her room
Susan, Ying Ying and her mother Grace choosing the food from the
menu for us
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