Long travel day before and breakfast came very
early. It didn't really matter though as
many were up in the night adjusting to the time change. After breakfast we boarded the tour bus and
went to Tianamane square.
This square is very large and is the location where one
of the most famous images occurred when the Chinese government used armed
forces to shut down student protesters who wanted democracy. It was a bit
surreal standing in the place where people stood in front of government
vehicles to protest.
In Tianamane Square
The peoples monument is there as an iconic reminder about
the incident. The square is the center
of the city and is surrounded by many government buildings such as the national
museum of China. There were tens of thousands in line to see General Mao's tomb.
After the square we walked into the forbidden city. This place was forbidden to the locals and we
learned how different levels of people entered through different gates to the
city. It is the place that housed 24
different Emporers in a 600 year time span.
The city was very large and every turn produced more buildings and
rooms. It was something like 9000 different rooms throughout the city. We learned a lot of information about the
dragon lady. (As well as many stories) from our guide Xin.
We stopped at a local mall for lunch where the students
had the opportunity to choose their food. Some were adventurous and others
settled for KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, Subway, etc.
After lunch we went to see the summer palace. This was a
place called lake of the mountain and was used as the summer home for the
dragon lady and her son. The place is
very beautiful. We walked quite a bit along the waterfront and then took a
dragon boat ride back across the lake.
We ended our day with a traditional Beijing Peking duck
dinner.
Devotions back at the hotel as we spent time together
talking about Palm Sunday and sharing together.
We have another busy day tomorrow as we will visit the
Great Wall.
Thanks
Jack
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