Day 2 - June 1, 2007

Today started bright and early. Both Todd and I slept much better than expected thanks to the nice bed and the really awesome pillows. We went first to the Temple of Heaven which is located very close to our hotel. This is a complex where the emporer would make sacrifices and pray to heaven and his ancestors at the winter solstice. It was fascinating looking at these buildings that have been here for 600 years. They were incredibly beautiful, and the intricate details painted around the tops and ceilings were mind-boggling. I kept asking Todd how he would like to have to repaint them. We spent over 2 hours there wandering through the grounds and people watching. I had read all about how the retired people like to congregate in parks to dance, sing, excercise, play games, etc., but to actually see it was unreal. When the books say "congregate", they don't mean just one or two people!

We then got to take a ride in a rickshaw for a Hutong tour. Hutongs are maze-like alleyways which have doors leading off in all directions. If you go through one of the doors, you will go wandering down another crooked lane to a central courtyard. Each courtyard has several houses arranged around it. Now, when I say "house", I really don't mean an American house. These are Chinese houses at their best. Each family has a room which serves as both a gathering room and a bedroom, and they have a kitchen. Each group of 4 or 5 families has a common area which includes the public bathroom. Again, I had read about this kind of living arrangement, but what I had pictured in my head was nothing like reality. We got to go down one of these crooked lanes and into one of the houses for lunch. The lady of the house prepared a delicious meal for us. When we arrived, there were 5 dishes set out on the table, so we started eating. As we ate, more dishes appeared. And more. And more. And more. I ate so much food that we are skipping dinner tonight! We ate right there in their gathering room surrounded by their beds, luggage, bikes, computer, and kitchen. When we were done, we got a lesson in stuffing wontons (not so easy using chopsticks).

My overall thoughts on the day - there are lots of people in Beijing, there are more bicycles than I have ever seen in my life, I am SO glad I don't have to drive over here, and the pace seems to be so much slower. People walk, and talk, and relax. They aren't all running frantically from one place to another. This was an experience that I am so glad we had- the Hutong tour isn't usually set up for families on the adoption circuit due to time limitations.

I am going to try to attach pictures. The posting webpage is all in Chinese (I can't find a way to change it to English), and I cannot access my posts while I am over here to see the final product. I hope it works.