Our hotel lobby at the Grand Crowne Hotel in Beijing

Family selfie in Tiananmen Square with the entrance to the Forbidden City where the emperors lived in the background

Famous portrait of Chairman Mao over the entrance to the Forbidden City

Mae overlooking part of the Forbidden City

Image recreated from in front of the Tree of Happy Couples from our trip in 2009

A Country Rich in History

Apologies for not blogging last night.  We were exhausted after a long day at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. 

Friday the 20th:  Our day started with a great breakfast buffet at our hotel.  As I type this this morning, I can't wait to go have breakfast again this morning. (and I didn't have time to finish this entry and post it before we went to breakfast and left for the day)  The coffee is the best we've ever had.  We all rated the coffee a 10/10. It is seriously better than Jamaican Blue Mountain that is served on most Caribbean cruises.  Anyway, enough about the coffee.  After breakfast, we met the rest of our tour group in the hotel lobby to meet our guide and load the bus for our tour.  There are currently 32 people in our group, and we are adding more today that didn't arrive until yesterday.  After about a 15 minute ride to Tiananmen Square, we had to stand in a long line or queue as our guide kept calling it.  It was like waiting in line for a popular attraction at a US theme park.  I say this not to complain but to help you understand how popular of tourist destinations these historical sites are.  During our tour, our guide was a wealth of information.  She told us about much of China's history.  After the tour, we loaded back on the bus to head to a lunch buffet and a jewelry store that specialized in Chinese pearls.  We headed back to the hotel after that and had dinner on our own at one of the restaurants in the hotel.  The food has been better than I thought it would be, but I am ready for something spicy.  Much of what they serve in this area of China is sweet.  After dinner we decided to go to bed.  

Group photo at The Great Wall

Maelin and Rylan conquering The Great Wall (no zoom)

They were beasts

It's tough climbing

 

Mailing and Rylan in the same location zoomed in

Picture taken from the same spot

Have I mentioned that it's hot here?

CCTV headquarters building

I thought it looked cool

The kids having lunch together

Saturday the 21st:  As you can see in the pictures, we went to and climbed The Great Wall today.  You really can't describe the feeling you get climbing it.  The history behind it, the age of it, the size of it...we were all just in awe.  Maelin made the most of it.  She and Rylan climbed further than I think anyone in our group did.  After The Great Wall, we went to a jade store where Maelin got a beautiful bangle.  Then we were served a family style lunch.  It was a great time to get to know some of the people in the group.  The group is really pretty great.  Everyone is so nice.  We had an afternoon acrobatic show for entertainment followed by a Peking Duck dinner.  

We have another busy day tomorrow.  I'm not sure if I'll write about it tomorrow night of the next day.  I apologize for the haphazard writing about these past two days.  I'm tired and it's bedtime.  Ha!