Today, Friday, was our first full day in China. We are still in Beijing and we got to start by going to Tiananmen Square.
It was huge and loads of people. The traffic here is crazy. Horn honking is part of the driving experience. They use them to communicate with other drivers and pedestrians.
We also went into the Forbidden City, where the Emperors lived. They finished construction on this part of the city in 1420! Amazing! There are 9999 1/2 rooms.
There were a number of tour groups going through. Each group has a flag that the guide holds to make sure the group stays together. This was the flag for one of the groups.
After the Forbidden City, we took a rickshaw through old Beijing. We stopped at a local house where they arranged for our lunch. Very cool.
We were free after 3pm so 4 of the 5 families at the hotel with us decided to adventure in the city. We found lots of street vendors. This one was a whole line of them. The food they sell is pretty interesting.
Quite a few scorpions on sticks…the little ones were all still alive! There’s also silk worm chrysalis, sea horses, starfish, giant spiders, centipedes, snakes and testicles. Believe it or not, we decided not to eat there. We found a little restaurant with an English menu. I have decided it’s probably best for me to just stick with Coke and rice when we eat out because who knows what kind of meat they are sticking in things!
When we got back from our tour, I discovered that my bag had made it to the hotel…a day late, but glad it’s here. It’s pretty beat up and ripped on the side (brand new bag). Hopefully it will make it the entire way through China (we still have 5 more plane rides!).
Tomorrow, Saturday, we go to the Great Wall and then Sunday back on a plane and off to Henan where we meet Maddi on Monday! It’s almost here!
We didn’t sleep at all on the flights over here and waited to go to bed until 10pm here last night so we’re doing well and haven’t really had jet lag hit yet.
Would you have tried the scorpion?
