Day 4 - June 3, 2007

Yet another day that started at 2:00 AM. Someday we will adjust.

Our itinerary today was pretty easy. We started at Tien An Men Square, then walked across the street to see the Forbidden City, and then took our car over to an international church. We ended with lunch and a plane ride.

Now for the details. Tien An Men Square was immense! I can't even begin to describe the size. Our guide says that there can be up to 500,000 people gathered here when they have their parades. I asked her where all of the bikes for 500,000 people were parked, but she didn't have an answer for that. (I don't think I have commented on the number of bikes over here. Everytime we stop for a red light at least 30 bikes congregate next to us . . . and that just includes the ones that actually stop . . . I'm not sure that traffic signals and road lines have the same meaning over here that they do in the States). Also, you always hear stories about Chinese people asking to take pictures of blond-haired, blue-eyed children (happened to us in Rome with Sofia and Peter). Well, evidentally, Todd and I are just a couple of kids, because we were asked to have our picture taken with 3 total strangers :)

The Forbidden City was amazing. Everything over here that was made for the leaders/Emporers was built in super gigantuan over-size mode. Unfortunately, it was foggy/hazy again, so I couldn't get any good pictures that show the magnificent details that are painted on, around and in all of these buildings. The haze also interfered with the camera's ability to show the vastness of everything. I am attaching a picture of the Emporer's bedroom (roughly the size of our whole house), a picture of a saddle and stirrups (that's for you, Sofi), and a picture of the drainage system (that's for my dad). We were sooooo lucky while in Beijing - the weather cooled off the day we arrived, and never got hot on us.

Next - church. This was wild. We went to an international church - for PASSPORT HOLDERS ONLY! We actually had to show our passports to go inside. Our guide was not allowed to step foot inside the building. It really makes me appreciate freedom of religion! Imagine, we choose to go to church, participate in Awanas, and send our kids to a Christian school. The folks over here don't have the same opportunities. One really neat thing - there was a women's choir from Calvin College - Todd's alma mater - that performed for the service.

Now for my favorite part of the day - LUNCH! Let me say, the food over here is head-and-shoulders above any American Chinese food that I have ever tasted. Our driver suggested a local place for lunch. I ate myself silly - to the point that neither Todd nor I had any desire to eat dinner later. We told our guide that it should be added to the itinerary for every single group that comes through Beijing. I have posted a shot of Todd's favorite dish :)

That brings us to our plane flight. We are now in the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. I am posting this a day late (this all really happened yesterday), so we are now sitting in our room waiting on pins and needles for 3:15 to arrive. OK, I am sitting on pins and needles. Todd is taking a nap. We will meet our guide and head over to get little Micah Bryan Ziwu Venema at 4:00. Let's see, when I was pregant with Peter, I finally packed my hospital bag at 9 days overdue. We are leaving in 2 hours, maybe I should think about packing a diaper bag . . .