DAY 2 SATURDAY OCT 20th - Sightseeing

Rise and shine folks it is now 8:00am Saturday morning (7pm for you in Chi-town and 8pm for you in NY Friday evening) we are having buffet breakfast in the hotel. Nice spread of mixed oriental and western choices. We each eat a hungry mans portions as we had no clue on what the day awaited us. After breakfast we head out to the lobby to meet up with Alex and Lui Pei.

First stop, here we are at the Huohai Lake near Hutongs. Here we walked along a small lake which around its perimeter had many local bars. It's said that the youth come here to enjoy the nightlife. While walking through the path around the lake you could see small boats that would ferry tourist around the lake.

 

We came upon this vendor selling scorpions on a stick.

Jose had been anxious since leaving Chicago to sample one of these Chinese delicacies. Amongst other delicacies which included seahorse and cows intestines. Here we see the trio downing their first taste of scorpion. Crunchy huh, but does it taste like chicken? I think not. Actually it tasted a bit salty and all said they seemed to like it and would taste it again. (Just in case you are wondering OH HELL NO I didn't try that shit).

 

Here we are entering the DrumTower. We climbed up these steep 65+ vertical steps all the way to the top. At the top we found a room filled with large drums. These drums would be struck each day to open and close the various gates that lead into the inner city. 1st in the morning to alert the locals from outside the inner city that they should report to work. 2nd in the evening to alert them that they should leave to return back home after work. If anyone was caught not getting to the gate in time to return home, they would be trapped inside and have to find refuge somewhere till morning.

Our next stop was a visit to a local Hutong family for lunch. We went to climb aboard some rickshaws, which are a very common mode of bicycle transportation here in China. As we approached, we knew that we would need to pair off for the ride. So Angel and I walked up to the first driver to see what he would say when he found out he would have to try an peddle us to the Hutong. His eyes widened as to say "oh shit how am i gonna pull these two large guys". We fell into tears with his expression it was priceless. All his fello rickshaw drivers all busted out into laughter. Jose then went with Angel as Joe went with me. On the way we passed through the local streets and narrow alleyways taking in the sights of how these local minoirty class people lived in this neighborhood. Most of the living space was 1 or 2 levels high.. Most of the local shop owners were cleaning thier establishments. The shops all varied in size but none were more than 12x20 square feet. Bikes were left on the road side by the dozens.

 

 

When we arrived at the residence, we were met by Cindy who was another tour guide friend of Alexandra. She had two other guests whom she was touring around'. They would be joining us for lunch inside. Of course being the social diplomatic attaches to the US. Jose quickly invited them over to take a picture with our group. We all walked through this small narrow doorway and through these narrow passageways lined with bikes and personal items. We got to a small courtyard then through a beaded door way to a dinning room area. The table was set up to receive visitors for lunch. This particular family of three mother, father and son, signs up to be a host family whereby they cook lunch for many visitors a day. The tour guide company randomly preselects these families to prepare these meals and gives them compensation. We all sat down and introduced ourselves. The two ladies who sat with us were joining us from Australia, Nerida and her daugther Rebecca. Both just arriving from Hong Kong they shared with us some of their experiences here in Bejing. Cindy got down to the heart of the lunch and gave us all beer. The local beer shown in the picture is very light and tasty. Best beer we have had in a long time. Shortly the food came outand we were treated to a local meal of rice, noodles, vegetables, beef, chicken and steamed dumplngs. Oh and not to mention "bugels". We ate like being mindful that we had pigged out earlier at the hotel's buffet breakfast. We ate, laughed and enjoyed each others company trading off stories of why we chose China for our travels. After a great meal, we raced back to meet up with our driver Lui Pei to take us too our next destination.

TIANANMEN SQUARE

After 40 or so minutes we arrived at the historic Tie amen Square. One of the world's largest public gathering spaces of 105 acres. We exited the van and were about to cross what seemed to be a large highway. The avenue was 10 lanes wide, 5 going and 5 coming. As we approached the crosswalk, we were commenting how the Chineese have no regard for traffic laws. When suddenly we looked over to the right and saw three people 1 man and 2 women standing what seemed to be in the middle of the intersection just talking. Jose made a comment as to "wow look at those people how crazy they are just standing there in the intersection". When suddenly you couldnt hasve filmed this any better, an accordian bus came barreling at them and screached to a halt less than a foot away from them. We all thought they were gonners and were about to reduce the population 1.3 billion by three. The most amazing thing about the whole experience was that niether of the family members even flinched or made an attempted to get out of the way. In fact the woman turned and looked at the bus drivers as if he was in the wrong. "UNBELIEVABLE" we were to this day traumatized by that event. The massive and exquisite floral designs are all part of the celebration that was October 10th, their national holiday. (like our 4th of July).

The guards are spread out throughout the grounds and rotate their positions every 4 hours in a cremonial march. Jose comes up on this guard and was about to escort him on his march to his next post.

The flag to is lowered and raised twice a day in yet another ceremonial tradition. The symbols of the flag represent the following. The main star represents the Communist Party of China , while the 4 others represent the different classes, Farmer, Worker, petty bourgeoisie, national capitalist class.. The red represents the blood of the Chinese heroes who gave their lives to protect the country.

Here we are just across the avenue from the entrance to the Imperial City. We stop for a quick photo shoot.


The Imperial City was where all of the high ranking military and dignitaries lived. Today the perimeter guards shown above live and train within.

 

 

FORBIDDEN CITY The number "9" represented a very powerful number to the Emperor. Same pronunciation as"forever" meaning stability. Seen in the picture of the front gate. There are 9 rows with 9 brass studs across each row. It is said that the higher one reaches the more wealth and good fortune will be bestow upon them. The city was a labrynth of corridors and high walls all meant to ensure the Emperors safety.

Within the inner sanctum of the Emperor no man would be allwe to enteror he had many concubines. The only males allowed within and around the Emperor were his eunic servants. A eunic would have his private parts removed to ensure loyalty chastity of his concubines. A concubine were females choosen to appear before the Emperor for his selection to become his mistress. They would be bathe, wrapped in white chards to conceal nothing but their face. Then each would be placed by a windowed room, whereby the Emperor walked in front. He would make a selection of his choice by leaving a flower on the ledge of the winow. It is told that in one rare occassion a concubine once tried to strangle an Emperor but failed. She was later punished by having her skin sliced off her body piece by piece until she died.

IMPERIAL GARDEN As we stepped into the garden you could see various types of trees dating back 100, 300 and even 500 years.This garden was primarily used by the Emperor, the Empress and their heirs as a relaxation area. The concubines would preform various acts of entertainment for the Emperor and his family.

SILK FACTORY We took a trip to one of China's well known export a factory where they produce various silk products. The tour guide gave us some insight on the life cycle of the silk worm. Here you see the cocoon spun by the worm. Each cocoon once unraveled can measure up to 1 mile long.

BEIJING CHANYANG ACROBATIC SHOW. This was our last stop for the evening. It was spectacular show. The most memerable e the ladies who juggled and balanced umbrelas with their feet only. Another were guys on neon lit motorcycles who entered a steel caged ball and drove around in circles within. Dodging each other with every pass. Now I have seen this act before on "Americas Got Talent"one with 3 bikes. But with every applause another cycle would come onto the stage and enter the dome. Angel and I kept saying to each other "No way not another bike". After the 5th bike made its entrance, Angel and I turned to each other "can they go for 6", when 3 more bikes came out. Topping the total at 8 bikes. "Oh hell no" we bolstered at the same time. Sure enough each went in and they performed concentric circles of 5 and 3 spinning around.

Upon returning back to the hotel we had very little energy left but had not venture out to explore the surroundings. We took a quick walk up the avenue to where we saw llights and activity,. Many locals were still out shopping and eating. We came across an intersection where on each corner people were line dancing. We thought they were battling each other. After a good 45 mnute walk, we returned back to te Hotel to crash and get ready for the next day.