Spring in Beijing--Day 1

We had a great vacation in Beijing, China!  We were there April 8-13.  But I will only write about the full four days we were there.  The traveling there and back days weren't very significant.  Our trip was a package through ITT on base.  It included our airfare, 5 days of hotel, all our meals (except lunch/dinner on our free day), a tour guide, and the admission to all the places we visited.  Our guide, Darren was very knowledgeable and had a great personality.  He was from China, and spoke English fluently and easy to understand.

I have many more pictures on my Facebook page.  I took over 700 pictures on our trip.  There are 168 on FB.  Please check it out since I can't post too many on here.

Day 1--Monday April 9th

We started each day with a breakfast buffet at our hotel.  Then hop on the bus to take us exploring.

 Tian'an Men--The Gate of Heavenly Peace.  Main entrance of the Imperial City.

 The painting is huge and is updated every couple of years.  I'm not sure why the guards are posted in a clear roped off box.  HA!

The Palace of Supreme Harmony (the Emperors audience hall).  The grounds of The Forbidden City is huge!  I had no idea it was so big.  We were walking for hours.

 But it all kind of looks the same.

 Bird's Eye View spot.

 Tea House Ceremony.  We got to try several types.  Rejuvenated my love for tea!  Every day of our tour had a government shopping site.  There was lots of tea to buy and nice tea sets.  There were even some beautiful cups that would change color and picture when hot water was poured in.  But everything was terribly expensive, so I wanted to wait to get tea somewhere else.

 Hutong Rickshaw bicycle tour.  We were taken to a beautiful area called Lotus Lake Street or 500 Bar Alley.  Back when there was the SARS epidemic the existing bar area was abandoned.  Then people started turning their houses into bars and restaurants.  And it has grown to be huge.  Lots of the bars had couches outside.

 There was an optional tour to see an Acrobatic show.  (Not included in price).  And everyone of our group of 18 went.  There was 2 kids on the tour, different families.  Age 1 and age 4.  They were carried almost the whole time, even at the Wall!  Chaoyang Theater-Acrobatics World.

 The show was A-MAZING!!  So good.  Probably the most entertaining thing I have seen in my life so far, it was that good!

 These girls were incredible.

 There ended up being 7 motorcycles in there riding around at the same time.  At some points they even turned the theater lights off.  It was crazy!

 Restaurants on the whole trip were served family style.  Each table had a lazy susan for all the dishes.  The meals were all very delicious.  And our sainted guide Darren would supply us with as much beer as we wanted.  And we had been told our drinks would not be included, but they were.  I'm not much of a beer drinker, but after all the walking it was pretty good.

 Chang An Grand Hotel.  It was a beautiful hotel, my only complaint is the bed.  I guess in Asian countries they don't like soft beds!  It was a king size but felt exactly like a box spring.  The most uncomfortable bed I've ever slept on!

 Inside hotel.

 I couldn't get a very good picture of this gorgeous light.