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Our hotel in Beijing has no wifi, but free broadband, unfortunately, this iPad does not have anything to connect to it.
Beijing is the Capital of the Peoples Republic of China & it has become one of my favorite cities to visit - I could fall in love with it! There is so much history in this country that you could spend a life time exploring. I am very lucky to travel with my Sister's family. It helps that Rafael can speak fluently and read Mandarin. He can easily converse with the locals. He's taken us to places we would never have experienced with an organized tour.
During this trip, I am getting to know my nephews better. The way Bryce and Kyle interact with each other reminds me a lot of how my late brother Ronald & Randall were when they were younger. They are constantly teasing, wrestling with each other and when a situation arises, big brother all looks after little brother.
Kyle reminds me a lot like Randall - typically Rat personalities, which means Parker will follow suit (also a Rat). Kyle's eyes lit up when he found out we were going to have Peking duck. He said to me, "Aunt June, it's the best tasting meat out there!" Duck is Randall's favorite meat too.
The local bus system is something to experience. It cost 1 RMB to ride the bus, 2 for the Subway; both are very popular & cheap to ride. They're are always packed and you have to learn to be aggressive when getting on & off the transit system. You also have to guard your possessions, they're are plenty of Pick Pocketers & I always wear my knapsack at the front instead of the traditional way.
The Forbidden City, words cannot explain properly how enormous this popular tourist site is. My tour book suggests it receives over 7 million visitors a year. The Imperial Palace was completed in 1420. Between 1420 and 1923, the palace was the home to 24 Emperors.
The palace has an outer and inner court. The outer gate was used by the Emperor to receive prisoners of war, issue proclamations and supervisor the punishment of troublesome officials. Three halls surround the court yard- Gate of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Perfect Harmony and Hall of Preserving Harmony. The first hall was used by Emperors to mark New Year and celebrate winter solstice. The inner court was only used by the Emperor, his family, his concubines and the palace eunuchs. You need a full day to explore this palace that documents Chinese ruling past dynasties.
Ying and Yang principles were used to design the palace. Yang represented by odd numbers symbolizes masculinity (associated to the Emperor). The numbers 3, 5, 7, and 9 are used throughout the palace ie Dragon Roof Guardians odd numbers. I have taken pictures of these Guardians.
After a full day exploring the Forbidden City, we ventured to the Dazhalan & Liulichang district (located near Tienamen Square). It's a fascinating area to visit since it has distinct sections - restaurants, fashion, tea shops ceramics, and antique books. It doesn't appear to be as "Westernized" as Wanfujing street. It was quite the experience walking around the food district, restaurants had people outside their doors encouraging people to come in. There were a lot of food vendors on this street, the best way to describe it as a wall of hot dog vendors carts we have in Ottawa. But, it's more than hotdogs, you can purchase caramelized fruits on a stick (like candy apples), Chinese crepes, buns, fresh noodle soups, fried tofu and various meat skewers. We had an "original/traditional Peking Dinner" tonight.
There were a lot of small shops on this strip. Kyle purchased a little kitty watch for 10 yens (1 Cdn$ = 5 RMB) and Bryce purchased a t-shirt that read, "I love BJ", similar to the, "I love NY". Yes, I know it stands for, "I love Beijing", ;p!
One thing I noticed in all the cities we have visited so far in China - no signs of squirrels like animals. Not in the different parks we have seen nor in any of the neighborhoods with trees we have visited. I wonder what happened to them?
Tomorrow we are off to the Great Wall ... Possible the 10 mile hike for some?
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