Day 3 ... Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Silk Factory

This morning was a carbon copy of yesterday morning:  Up at 3:30 AM, breakfast at 6:30 AM, Skyped the kids around 8:00 AM, prayer and devotions (we decided to read through Psalm 119 while we are here in China), and then downstairs to the lobby at 8:15 AM.  We were on the bus around 8:30 AM and off we went for another day of sightseeing in Beijing.

Today was another tour day with our group of adoptive families and our tour guide Lily.  We were also joined by one new family that just arrived yesterday.  The day started with a short drive down the street to Tiananmen Square.  For those of you unfamiliar with Beijing, I am going to compare Tiananmen Square to the closest thing I can think of - the National Mall in Washington, D.C.  Simply, think of lots of grand, national monuments, security guards marching around, and throngs of tourists.

We really appreciated having our tour guide Lily with us again today.  She was very knowledgeable about the area and was able to recite key dates and dimensions of many of the landmarks.  She also somehow got us into the fast-pass lane at the security checkpoints.  Lily explained to us that Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in world.  It houses the Monument to the People’s Heroes, “Chinese white house” and Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum.  There was a lot of other information as well but to be quite honest it was a lot to take in.

Next, we travelled north into the Imperial Palace and then into the Forbidden City.  This is where the emperor of China used to live with his 1000’s of concubines.  We were told over and over again about how many rooms there were, where the concubines could and could not stay, and what the punishment was for bad behavior.  The architecture itself was breathtaking and iconic China.

Our next stop was lunch.  We ate around a circular table again.  This time we were crammed into a room with peeling wallpaper and holes in the drywall.  I’m not sure if this was a courtesy extended to us for privacy or if the restaurant wanted to keep the American tourists out of site from their local patrons.  Either way, we enjoyed being in an air conditioned building.  Matt ate his fill while Deanna was less adventurous today.

 

For lunch, we were joined by our Beijing case worker Bella.  Bella didn’t speak much, but she did deliver to us a “Red Book”.  It basically had a bunch of pages with information in it regarding Chinese culture, what to expect when we pick Micah up, and our schedule of events for Guangzhou.  Although other families also received some updated pictures in their books, we did not have a single picture of Micah.  We tried hard to be happy for the other families who were rejoicing in their updated photos while dealing with some sadness inside.  We know that within two short days we will be taking all of the photos we want.

 

Our last stop of the day was a silk factory.  We were shown how workers harvest the silk from the silk worm cocoon.   Workers also demonstrated how they stretch the silk to make silk comforters.  Next, we were taken to area and shown the finished product.  Then, we were briefed on all of the benefits of silk and how “little” it cost to bring one of these fine pieces home with us.  This place also had a large showroom of bedding and clothing to browse.  Like the jade factory yesterday, all of the merchandise seemed expensive, and we didn’t really care to pack any more in our luggage.

 We made it back to the hotel by 2 PM, took a “nap” around 3 PM, and didn’t wake up until 9 PM.  We were still tired so we got ready for bed and then continued to sleep until 3 AM the next morning.  I guess we were tired!  Our plans for Sunday include a flight to Micah’s city of Shanghai.  We are praying today for our safe travels and the details to be worked out for the upcoming week.