March 10

Dear All,

 

Ni Hao! Greetings once again with an update on our trek. This morning we had the chance to go to Tian'anmen Square and were amazed by the size of this area! The massive size of the buildings around this very large square which is one of the first tourist destinations all Chinese people will go to if they have the chance to travel. So a very popular spot for the Chinese which was evident from the people we saw today and we had to work to stay together as a group. The history of the square includes so many positive and negative celebrations/outbreaks/heartbreak for the Chinese people.

 

From here we continued to walk along another 'meridian' as everything along this square was built to line up on the meridian to the Forbidden City. Once again this is truly a Chinese destination to tour and so we were amongst the few North Americans to be touring amongst the Chinese people. Our students with blond hair (A & K) were asked for their pictures to be taken with Chinese women as they are amazed with the fair hair and eyes.

 

Once again it was brisk and cold but we all learned and saw so much. The vast size of the Forbidden City is immense with the various buildings to house the past Emperors, his officials, military and all his wives/concubines. The numerous buildings that were built at this time with all the different court yards and the details in the art work, sculptures, design is remarkable from this time period. The rooms that we could see inside were left intact from 1924 when the last Emperor resided in this area.

 

From here we went to the SILK market which is a 6 story shopping market. The building is much smaller than any of our malls but contains a lot more stores tightly packed together as they are small stalls. Our students learned to barter quickly and spent a lot of time picking out items for themselves and their families (you) this afternoon. Those who loved the process continued on at the PEARL Market which is similar but not quite a famous and known for even better prices while Nate, Alice, Kelsey, Melissa, Jeff, Victoria and Jonathon went to have a one hour foot massage which includes shoulders,back and feet! 

 

From here the group was going to go to an acrobatic show and out to have KFC for a treat from Chinese food. For this I'll have to send details later because I took a cab back to our hotel as J's fever/sore throat has worsened so bedrest was definitely needed. It is a bit of a heartbreak that he is fighting this during our trip in China - but he continues to try to do what he can and now I'm hoping this time of rest will speed along his recovery.

 

Tomorrow morning is an early start as we fly to Inner Mongolia. If you don't here from us for a couple of days it will just be due to the internet connections and we'll link up when we can. Cheryl Webb is linking this information to our blog so these emails can be accessed and some photo attachments are coming after I send this out.

 

Thanks for your responses and know that if you were expecting emails it is just the lack of wifi/internet in our hotel and so the time to connect is hard with full days as each student sends their hellos & love!

 

Blessings,

Mrs. VV