Saturday
We started the morning going to Tian'an Men square
and the Forbidden City. Lee told us that
it would be crowded because it was the weekend but not as crowded as July and
August when kids are out of school. Wow we couldn't imagine it being any more
crowded.
Below are some pictures of the amazing sights. The forbidden city
includes various huge courtyards that you walk through one more grand than the
other. One of our favorites was the last
one called the Imperial Flower garden.
Here there were beautiful 300 year old trees, rock formations and
beautiful flowers. Notice below on top of the buildings it shows the carved wood
animals. The more animals on the each building the more important the building.
However you never exceeded the number 9 because 9 is as high as you can go for
approaching the diety but not claiming to be him. The emperors considered
themselves next in importance to God and 9 was the highest ranking with God
being 10 (I am sure I am not explaining that right but it's 11:30 and I am not
sure I am even coherent anymore :))
Next our tour guide took us to lunch and we had a delicious Chinese lunch. We walked in and the kids said they weren't hungry because of the look of the food but we all ate a ton and it was delicious. It's much different than Chinese food in America but I think much more delicious. You should see the number of tour buses pulling into these places. It's a whole set up between the travel agencies and the restaurants. In the front is a massive store selling mostly jade jewelry and jade statues. They did show you how the artists cut and designed each piece of jade which was pretty cool.
After lunch we drove to the Great Wall. There really are no words to describe the beautiful scenes from the top. My mom came up just far enough to say she did it and get a picture. Then she waited 2 hours at the bottom while we climbed. The stairs are all uneven and incredibly steep. You have to take it slow and pace yourself. Of course we would go up a section, Taylor would say, ok let's go down that is far enough. But the competitor in all of us Losse's kept us going. Taylor and I made it almost to the top of the section we were at. Mike and Jack of course went as far as they could. I was picturing someone having to go rescue Mike on the way down since he has such bad knees. Mine are not great either and we all had jello legs by the end of the climb. I am sure we won't be able to walk at all tomorrow. Here are some pictures to try and capture the beauty. It really is amazing.
Lastly we met several of my co-workers and the associate director of chi melody and her family for dinner. Again we had a wonderful dinner that they ordered for us. The kids especially loved the mango juice!
Tomorrow morning early we leave for Guangzhou. The best is yet to come.
We will fly there tomorrow and get settled in. Then meet Liya on Monday!!! Can't wait!
Next our tour guide took us to lunch and we had a delicious Chinese lunch. We walked in and the kids said they weren't hungry because of the look of the food but we all ate a ton and it was delicious. It's much different than Chinese food in America but I think much more delicious. You should see the number of tour buses pulling into these places. It's a whole set up between the travel agencies and the restaurants. In the front is a massive store selling mostly jade jewelry and jade statues. They did show you how the artists cut and designed each piece of jade which was pretty cool.
After lunch we drove to the Great Wall. There really are no words to describe the beautiful scenes from the top. My mom came up just far enough to say she did it and get a picture. Then she waited 2 hours at the bottom while we climbed. The stairs are all uneven and incredibly steep. You have to take it slow and pace yourself. Of course we would go up a section, Taylor would say, ok let's go down that is far enough. But the competitor in all of us Losse's kept us going. Taylor and I made it almost to the top of the section we were at. Mike and Jack of course went as far as they could. I was picturing someone having to go rescue Mike on the way down since he has such bad knees. Mine are not great either and we all had jello legs by the end of the climb. I am sure we won't be able to walk at all tomorrow. Here are some pictures to try and capture the beauty. It really is amazing.
Lastly we met several of my co-workers and the associate director of chi melody and her family for dinner. Again we had a wonderful dinner that they ordered for us. The kids especially loved the mango juice!
Tomorrow morning early we leave for Guangzhou. The best is yet to come.
We will fly there tomorrow and get settled in. Then meet Liya on Monday!!! Can't wait!
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