It is so beautiful here in Beijing. All of the locals are nice and most of them speak enough English to get us thru. Our tour guide for yesterday and today is "John" and he is wonderful. At first we thought we were getting robbed because we had only arranged a driver through the concierge at the hotel (Jack), and the driver picks us up and drives a couple of blocks and pulls over and this guy jumps in the front passenger seat! We weren't expecting it, so it took us a bit by surprise, but it was all uphill fr
om there and we had a great time! Apparently, John is a tour guide by trade, and they call in each night to see if they have work the next day. If not, they must network with the van drivers, who are all independent operators that rent vans from the tour company each day). So when the drivers go out, they pick up a guide who probably gets a small cut of the driver's fee and the chance to score a tip. He did... a nice one too, because he was teriffic and he really made it a great day! We felt like he was part of our family the way he took to hanging with us adults and the kids. We spent the whole day yesterday sightseeing--from 9am to 4pm. We went to the Forbidden City and saw where th
e Emporers worked, lived and played. We then went for a tour of Hutong on bicycle-driven rickshaws. I have to say thi
s was the best so far. It was a tour of a small, but "old" and still mostly authentic Beijing neighborhood. Everyone we passed had smiles and greeted us. After this tour we went to the Temple of Heaven and it was nice as well. By this time we were all very tired. We took a ton of pictures. After taking about a 3
hour nap we met up with John and Mary of New Hampshire and went to walk the city. It looks so much like New York's Time Square. They have about 70 food vendors lined up on the sidewalk selling all sorts of yucky fishy stuff. The dumplings looked good but we could not tell what was in them and the vendors did not speak much English. We did some shopping and then went to a Chinese restaruant and Mary and John went to the night before. It was cheap and delicious.
In about 5 hours we will begin our day at the Great Wall. This is the attraction I have been waiting to see. I think we might go to Mings tomb after but I am not sure. I think we might c
ome back to the hotel after he wall and do a little more shopping and hit the pool and Sauna. It is our last night here and we have a ton of repacking to do. The time change and jet lag have me up most of the night---it is 4am here and I have been up for about an hour trying to keep quiet. I cannot wait for Sunday morning and travel to Wuhan. I just want to touch down in the Province Megan is in. I haven't really shopped for her because I want to wait to shop with her. I have had over two years shopping without her and I am done with that. Please keep us in your prayers, and we'll be thinking about everyone, particularly tomorrow, Easter Sunday.
Talk to you very soon Love to all, Michele (and the gang) (pics to follow later)
om there and we had a great time! Apparently, John is a tour guide by trade, and they call in each night to see if they have work the next day. If not, they must network with the van drivers, who are all independent operators that rent vans from the tour company each day). So when the drivers go out, they pick up a guide who probably gets a small cut of the driver's fee and the chance to score a tip. He did... a nice one too, because he was teriffic and he really made it a great day! We felt like he was part of our family the way he took to hanging with us adults and the kids. We spent the whole day yesterday sightseeing--from 9am to 4pm. We went to the Forbidden City and saw where th
e Emporers worked, lived and played. We then went for a tour of Hutong on bicycle-driven rickshaws. I have to say thi
s was the best so far. It was a tour of a small, but "old" and still mostly authentic Beijing neighborhood. Everyone we passed had smiles and greeted us. After this tour we went to the Temple of Heaven and it was nice as well. By this time we were all very tired. We took a ton of pictures. After taking about a 3
hour nap we met up with John and Mary of New Hampshire and went to walk the city. It looks so much like New York's Time Square. They have about 70 food vendors lined up on the sidewalk selling all sorts of yucky fishy stuff. The dumplings looked good but we could not tell what was in them and the vendors did not speak much English. We did some shopping and then went to a Chinese restaruant and Mary and John went to the night before. It was cheap and delicious.In about 5 hours we will begin our day at the Great Wall. This is the attraction I have been waiting to see. I think we might go to Mings tomb after but I am not sure. I think we might c
ome back to the hotel after he wall and do a little more shopping and hit the pool and Sauna. It is our last night here and we have a ton of repacking to do. The time change and jet lag have me up most of the night---it is 4am here and I have been up for about an hour trying to keep quiet. I cannot wait for Sunday morning and travel to Wuhan. I just want to touch down in the Province Megan is in. I haven't really shopped for her because I want to wait to shop with her. I have had over two years shopping without her and I am done with that. Please keep us in your prayers, and we'll be thinking about everyone, particularly tomorrow, Easter Sunday.Talk to you very soon Love to all, Michele (and the gang) (pics to follow later)
1 comment:
Your trip sounds amazing so far and you haven't even gotten to the good part yet. We'll be thinking of you as you get closer to meeting Megan. I wouldn't be able to sleep either...just for the anticipation, never mind the jet lag. Love to all.
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