Beijing Day 2

Free day and fake market. On our second day we got to relax a little, explore the area and go to the fake market. I don't have pictures from the fake market because I was afraid that they would threaten me if I tried, so I kept it on the down low. We had a good time with the group eating a somewhat more authentic Chinese lunch/dinner, and got to experience the bus system all over again. 

The fake market was unlike any experience I've ever had with shopping. If you think that the sales men are pushy in the states, you should see them here. They literally pull you into their shops and throw tantrums if you don't buy anything. I was looking at a tea set and was trying to get a feel for the price I could get for it because it's all bartering here. Well I learned very quickly that you don't offer a price unless you are serious about buying the item. I had a lady curse at me and try to grab me to bring me back. It was kind of scary to be honest. We bought some trinkets that I won't disclose just yet because they are gifts for people back home. :) 

This bug landed on Jon's backpack!

Day 1 Ctd. Acrobatic show

After taking a small rest in the hotel, we went out as a group to the acrobatic show. I think the pictures will speak for themselves about how cool it was. 

Beijing, China Day 1

Really our first day was getting to China, but I don't count that because it was mostly a long flight with lots of sleeping and restlessness. It was rough. We got into Beijing late, where we got on a bus and headed to our hotel. After a night of trying to battle jet lag, we got up and headed out to Tiananmen square.
                                         
                                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOD6CJmuIbs

We took the bus out, which if you have never been to China, was an adrenaline rush for sure. The traffic is terrible here. People cut each other off at any moment they can, they swerve, drive on sidewalks and basically try to kill any one that gets in their way. Needless to say, the trip was frightning. Once we got there we got to look around for a while, but were then abruptly hearded out of the square. The police surrounded us and started ushering everyone out.

We don't know why we were hearded out, but we suspect that the police heard word of a protest or something.

After about an hour of being crowded around the block, we didn't have time to see the museum, so we went straight on to the Forbiddin City. 

The Forbidden City is huge! We walked around for about two hours and still only covered about half of it, and the half we did walk through we didn't spend any significant time at. The buildings were a great taste for what China was, and how some things have never changed. 

We learned on our journey about the many superstitions that Chinese culture has adopted, for example there are nine rows of nine bolts on every prominent city building because it symbolizes luck and prosperity. That is also why the Forbidden city consists of 9,999 rooms as well. Believe me, it was HUGE. 

The museums were cool, but I loved the architecture and the gardens the most. For the first thing that we saw in China, it was definately the embodiment of China. 

After we were done with the Forbidden City, we climbed up the gardens across the way to get a great vantage point of Beijing and the Forbidden City. The views were sspectacular.