After another fabulous breakfast buffet we met Happy, our guide, who
happens to serve as both our Holt guide and our Lotus tour guide. It’s
really been nice to have the same person represent both places. We feel
very well cared for.
Happy and our driver took us first to the Summer Palace, former home of
the Empress or “Dragon Lady.” I enjoyed Happy’s stories of the cruel
Empress at least as much as I enjoyed touring the grounds. It was also
really nice to be able to talk with a Chinese National who could speak
English and answer a lot of our questions. One interesting tidbit that I
didn't know...she says that now if you and your husband are both the only
child of your parents that you are allowed to have two children without
penalty. I guess the idea is that one offspring for two parents and two
sets of grandparents is too big a burden for the child.
When we completed our Summer Palace tour, she explained that it was the
peak of lunch hour and suggested that we stop at a tea house first.
Definitely a highlight of the day. At the teahouse, our tea hostess taught
us about making various types of tea and made samples of 5 or so teas for
us to try. I now understand why other cultures drink tea. This stuff was
GOOD. Really GOOD. We bought some lychee and oolong (spelling?) teas to
bring home along with a cup depicting a Great Wall scene that changes
depending on water temperature. Oh, and we got a free “peeing boy.” She
demonstrated how to test water temperature by putting water in this little
clay figure that “pees” at the right temp. Seemed a little odd in a formal
tea room, but greatly amused the boys.
After tea, Happy took us to a Chinese restaurant and ordered lunch. Oh
boy! We had broccoli and beef, kungpao chicken, eggplant/potatoes, fried
sweet bananas, spicy cabbage soup, So, so good. We ate til we couldn’t
eat any more. (Seriously, the eating on this trip is not-to-be-beaten.)
Incidentally, I guess Happy isn’t too worried about catching swine flu
from Americans. As there were no serving spoons, she told us that we
should just dig into the dishes with our chopsticks. We had teeny tiny
little individual plates, so we refilled frequently. Speaking of swine
flu…according to her*, the quarantined Holt family made it to Beijing, but
were on a plane with someone with symptoms and as a result were
immediately sent back to the states without meeting their child. If that’s
true, I can’t imagine the stress and disappointment. Or sitting on another
15 hour flight without a rest in between. Which just goes to show that
it’s slightly important to not be on a flight with anyone with a fever.
Freaky. (*Later I learned that this probably wasn't true...that a family was quarantined in Beijing for a week, but they went on to join their original travel group and made it through the process.)
After lunch, we toured a silk factory…I think she said the oldest in
Beijing? They showed us the life cycle of silkworms, how the thread is
made, how the cloth is made, etc. Fascinating stuff. Lots of photos on the
wall of international dignitaries who’d visited.
Then on to Temple of Heaven. This is a place where the Emperor would go
three times a year to ask for good harvests. Now it’s remarkable for all
the folks that gather to dance, sing karaoke, play poker, etc. Lizzi
thrilled a Chinese man by agreeing to dance with him a bit. I’ll try to
load a video later. She was quite the dancer.
It’s been fairly cool here, btw. We’ve been wearing jeans or capris with
jackets. Perfect temps, really. I think it’ll get quite a bit hotter on
our next stop.
We made it back to the hotel by 5. We’re resting up in preparation to
visit the Great Wall tomorrow. Several other Holt families will accompany
us with Happy. We met one family briefly today, a mom, grandma, and
3-year-old girl they’d just received the day before from an orphanage in
Beijing.
So that’s it for now. Hugs to all.
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