China Day Two - Tienanmen Square/Forbidden City/Hutong Tour

We started our morning out at 4am - my eyes were wide open after only 4 hours of sleep! I spent some time organizing pictures and blogging before the sun came up. We showered and were dressed and ready for breakfast by 7:30. Thanks to a very nice upgrade, we are able to have breakfast (and dinner) everyday at the executive lounge.

We were able to meet the Good Family from St. Louis at breakfast. Sarah and I connected several months ago via our Lifeline China group on Facebook. We have been on the same timeline for much of this process. When we both got Travel Approval on the same day and decided we both wanted to tour Beijing before getting our kiddos, we decided it would be great for our families to tour together!

After breakfast, we met our guide Flora in the lobby. We bundled up and headed out into the 22 degree air! Our first stop was Tienanmen Square. Flora was great about telling us all about the history of the Square. While we were there, we also were able to visit Chairman Mao's mausoleum. He was laid to rest in a crystal coffin, and Chinese nationals still go to pay their respects and lay flowers at his memorial. I shushhhhed by one of the Chinese soldiers because I was talking. Oops.

After walking through Tienanmen Square and taking lots of pictures (some with our selfie sticks...we are tourists after all!) we headed to the gates of the Forbidden City. I was totally mistaken about this place. I feel like I've only ever seen pictures of the front of the Forbidden City - this place was massive! We spent several hours walking through all of the different buildings and learning the
history of the old city. 

For lunch we stopped at a dumpling restaurant where we enjoyed shrimp and pork dumplings, spicy green beans, fried rice, pork noodles, and a lamb dish. Everything was delicious and NOTHING like American Chinese food. 

After lunch, I got in trouble again! I'm 2 for 2 in that department today! We made a stop by the public toilets. In case you didn't know, the Chinese have whats called a "Squatty Potty". Usually the public restrooms will have at least one "western toilet". Well, it took several minutes for the 4 of us girls to use the one toilet and we might have been laughing a little too much at the logistics of Chinese people using said "Squatty Potty". The bathroom attendant turned the lights off on us and gave me an awful disapproving look. 

Next we drove into the older party of Beijing - the Hutong area. Since the Olympics, the have started a Hutong tour. We were able to visit the home of Ms. Fran and see how she lives. She was so kind to have us in her home, tell us about her families history, and share with us her talent. She plays this beautiful instrument that I cant remember the name of!

After leaving the home, we hopped on board a rickshaw - a 3 wheel bicycle carriage - for a tour of the Hutong area! Mom and I must have been heavy because our driver was huffing and puffing and groaning the whole ride! 

Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at the bank to exchange money. This was an experience! Mom almost got knocked over by a pushy Chinese man - there are no gentlemanly manners here! We had to get our passports copied and then we were assigned a number. When your number is called, you can go up to the teller who is behind very thick glass. After about an hour, we had our money exchanged and we headed back to the hotel. 

We finished off the night with a little shopping around the hotel and then dinner in the executive lounge. I was asleep by 8:30 while mom was still Facetiming with Emma Kate and Whitney. I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer! Tomorrow is the Great Wall! Looking forward to seeing one of the "wonders of the world"!