Friday, March 28, 2008

Last full day in Beijing and it was cold and then colder and rainy. We had planned to go to the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven. When we left the Hoo Hoo it was overcast and a little chilly. We took a taxi to the Forbidden City. As soon as we got there a group of high school or college aged girls walked past (about 20-30) and they were all looking at Sam and smiling and waving. Then another group came by and they too were looking at Sam then they all wanted their picture taken with him! He was so good natured about it and stood there and smiled. This continued through the whole place; people would want their picture taken with Sam. We joked we were traveling with a rock star. Sam was eating it up and loving every minute. The wind was picking up, the rain was starting, but we still walked through the whole thing. Another fun part was that Dad rented an audio self guided tour thing. It had an earpiece and a box that David punched numbers into and it gave information about the area we were standing in. Dad decided that David should have it, since it was electronic. So we would stop in an area, David would push the number, listen to the description and then tell us about it. The funny part is that all over there are these tours, all the people wear matching hats and their guide has a flag and a megaphone and everyone follows them. So we joked David was our tour guide. We left there and the rain picked up some more. We took a taxi over to the temple of heaven and had lunch. It was so good. Most restaurants have menus with pictures, so you just point to what looks good. Sam picked this pear thing. It looked like deep fried pears, but it was just the shape of pears, inside it was a yummy paste. We all loved them.

The Temple of Heaven was nice, but it was raining and really cold. I imagine in better weather, it would be even nicer and more enjoyable. The roof is blue, there is an echo area and there were other buildings you could look in.