First stop was Tiananmen Square. This large open area is surrounded by the Chinese government buildings. There is a famous portrait of Chairman Mao hanging on the side of one of the buildings.
Next stop was the Forbidden City located right behind the building in the previous picture.
There are many buildings and statues in the Forbidden City. When China was ruled by emporers, this is where he lived with all his servants.
Because of the recent Olympics, many of these buildings are newly restored and painted. They were very colorful.
A statue in the emporer's garden.
Next, we went to a Silk Factory demonstration store. The bottom floor had silk rugs for sale. The one that Flat Panda was trying out only cost $8000 (US). It took two-and-a-half years to make by hand. It has more than eight thousand knots per square inch!!
Upstairs, they demonstrated how they get the silk threads from the silk worms.
Here is the various stages of the silk worm. Lovely!
Flat Panda visiting with his Silk Panda friends.
Next, he tried on some new silk pajamas! They were a little big.
Back in the bus, Abby fell asleep. She had woken up around 4AM and never went back to sleep. This time change difference is hard to overcome!
She slept all through lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Beijing. Mommy had nachos. Similar but not entirely the same as in America. The cheese was definately different!
Here's Abby's hot dog and fries. We had them wrapped to go.
Then we went to the airport. Most of our group was flying to a different city on an early flight, so we had to hang out for four hours waiting for our plane to leave. We met some new friends at a play area in the airport. We couldn't pronounce their names but they were very friendly!
Next up, Abby meets her new sister!! She can't wait. We're going in about an hour.
4 comments:
I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU! Been thinking of y'all for a couple hours, knowing the time is SOON! YAY! (That's why I got on here to check your blog before I went to bed!). love you!
We were concerned you didn't have internet in Nanning. I checked last night before I went to bed, but alas, nothing yet. I'm glad you had a great Sunday. We're so eager to hear from you and to see Sarah. The computer will be on a ready for the call. Love you, Mom (Dad will probably be sleeping as he worked last night).
Yea!!! Mike and Sarah are here and we're all excited. :) Pins and needles here. Love you.
Abby, it looks like you are having a lot of fun in China. I'm glad that you have a new sister and someone to play with. We miss you at preschool and can't wait until you come back.
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