Happy Fourth
Since we're not leaving today until 8 p.m. (our tour guide thought it was 8 a.m.) it leaves us time to do some last minute cramming of tourist activities.
we head back to the forbidden city but go inside this time. these are the digs where emperors used to live and stuff and they were so opulent and filled with servants that emperors rarely left the grounds. commoners weren't allowed (thus the name), so it gave them some protection too. it's about 1 million degrees outside, but i can't be too upset since it's one of the few days this month where we've seen blue sky.
after that we head to the summer palace, sort of like the chinese emperors' crawford, texas ranch, and it's beautiful. trees (which means shade!), water, dragon boats, pagodas, gazebos, etc. it really would have paid off nicely to be friends with the emperor and have him invite you over for the summer, or a weekend.
our last stop is Mr. Tea, a famous teahouse even visited by Queen Elizabeth. they do the hard sell and try to get us to buy $20 tea, but it's sold outside for $3. everyone passes but bill, who loads up on teapots, teacups, tea, etc. that easily set him back $100. see, if he was more of a shopper he could have found these items at the market for no more than $10. oh well.
we head to the airport 3 hours early and no one complains. we take off at 8 p.m. so it's darktime in beijing, and as we lift off over the city i see some fireworks going off in the distance. must be some expatriates. since we land at LAX at 5 p.m. i'll get to celebrate the Fourth twice. can't think of a better day to fly back or end the trip!
we head back to the forbidden city but go inside this time. these are the digs where emperors used to live and stuff and they were so opulent and filled with servants that emperors rarely left the grounds. commoners weren't allowed (thus the name), so it gave them some protection too. it's about 1 million degrees outside, but i can't be too upset since it's one of the few days this month where we've seen blue sky.
after that we head to the summer palace, sort of like the chinese emperors' crawford, texas ranch, and it's beautiful. trees (which means shade!), water, dragon boats, pagodas, gazebos, etc. it really would have paid off nicely to be friends with the emperor and have him invite you over for the summer, or a weekend.
our last stop is Mr. Tea, a famous teahouse even visited by Queen Elizabeth. they do the hard sell and try to get us to buy $20 tea, but it's sold outside for $3. everyone passes but bill, who loads up on teapots, teacups, tea, etc. that easily set him back $100. see, if he was more of a shopper he could have found these items at the market for no more than $10. oh well.
we head to the airport 3 hours early and no one complains. we take off at 8 p.m. so it's darktime in beijing, and as we lift off over the city i see some fireworks going off in the distance. must be some expatriates. since we land at LAX at 5 p.m. i'll get to celebrate the Fourth twice. can't think of a better day to fly back or end the trip!
posted by christine at 12:56 PM
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