Today is a free day in Beijing, so this morning we decided to walk over and visit the famous Forbidden City. Though we had seen pictures of it before, it is truly something to behold in person. Despite its enormity, it acts as a kind of subtle backdrop within the city. Indeed, it kind of snuck up on us while we were strolling through a beautiful park full of gigantic cypress trees.
Inside, we had quite a walk on our hands as we walked the length of the exhibit admiring the architecture. We each rubbed the little knobby things (a technical term) for good luck, checked out the Imperial Garden, and did a little shopping. Without a doubt though, the most interesting part of the trip was the people watching. It was very crowded and we saw people from all over. We also got a taste of the celebrity life as everyone seemed to want to take a picture with us (particularly the kids). We probably were stopped 6-7 times for photos, and people stared at us constantly. At one point, I had a good time watching this gentleman videoing us while pretending to check out a building to our right. Across the board though, people were very gracious. We've really enjoyed the hospitality of the good people here.
For lunch, the kids wanted McDonald's so we made our way through the crowds and I wildly gesticulated to the cashier what we wanted. For some strange reason, I keep thinking that a little Spanish will help them understand me; I guess I've lived in Texas too long. In the end, I was only half-successful with our order, but the kids did get a Coke for their trouble, so it ended up OK.
Now, we're going to take a nap because our body clocks are seriously off; we all woke up this morning around 3:00 am.
Update: So tonight we had quite a dinner experience. We were waved into an authentic Chinese restaurant only to quickly discover that no one spoke any English. So, Andrea and I improvised by engaging the wait staff with a lively game of charades. I'm sure it was quite funny to watch and it ended well with some seriously good cashew chicken.
Inside, we had quite a walk on our hands as we walked the length of the exhibit admiring the architecture. We each rubbed the little knobby things (a technical term) for good luck, checked out the Imperial Garden, and did a little shopping. Without a doubt though, the most interesting part of the trip was the people watching. It was very crowded and we saw people from all over. We also got a taste of the celebrity life as everyone seemed to want to take a picture with us (particularly the kids). We probably were stopped 6-7 times for photos, and people stared at us constantly. At one point, I had a good time watching this gentleman videoing us while pretending to check out a building to our right. Across the board though, people were very gracious. We've really enjoyed the hospitality of the good people here.
For lunch, the kids wanted McDonald's so we made our way through the crowds and I wildly gesticulated to the cashier what we wanted. For some strange reason, I keep thinking that a little Spanish will help them understand me; I guess I've lived in Texas too long. In the end, I was only half-successful with our order, but the kids did get a Coke for their trouble, so it ended up OK.
Now, we're going to take a nap because our body clocks are seriously off; we all woke up this morning around 3:00 am.
Update: So tonight we had quite a dinner experience. We were waved into an authentic Chinese restaurant only to quickly discover that no one spoke any English. So, Andrea and I improvised by engaging the wait staff with a lively game of charades. I'm sure it was quite funny to watch and it ended well with some seriously good cashew chicken.
I would have loved to see the charades!!! Great pics!
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