We're currently in Beijing. We arrived late Saturday morning. We checked into the hotel and decided to go over to the Temple of Heaven for our first sight. The Temple of Heaven was considered sacred ground and it was at this site that the emperor would perform major ceremonial rites. The most important ceremony of the year would be performed just before the winter solstice, when the emperor and his enormous entourage passed down Qianmen Dajie to the Imperial Vault of Heaven in total silence. Commoners were not allowed to view the ceremony and remained cloistered indoors. The procession included elephant and horse chariots and long lines of lancers, nobles, officials and musicians dressed in their finest with flags fluttering. The next day, the emperor would wait in a yellow silk tent at the southern gate while the officials would move the sacred tablets to the Round Altar, where prayers and sacrificial rituals took place. It was believed that this ritual would decide the nation's future. Therefore, any hitches would be considered a bad omen.We had a great time there. While we were wandering, there was a tour group from Hong Kong. We would be walking beside them and I would listen to the descriptions and just translate it back to Tony and Matthew. At one point, while we were walking, a woman from Hong Kong made a statement in Cantonese. Tony turned around and translated it back to me. Correctly no less. I burst out laughing so hard, people turned around to see who was making all that noise. It was pretty funny that he doesn't understand a word of Mandarin but, can understand full blown Cantonese.
Later that evening, we went to see a play "The Legend of Kung Fu". Matthew absolutely loved the play. It was the story of Chun Yi and depicted life at a monastary. It was beautifully choreographed and we all had a great time.
Sunday
After breakfast, we walked over to Tiananmen Square and wandered over to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was off limits to commoners for over 500 years. It was constructed between 1406 and 1420. It consists of over 800 buildings, 9,999 rooms and sits on 72,000 square meters. We spent hours roaming the place and still didn't see everything. 
One major improvement since my visit to the Forbidden City in the late 1980's is the much improved public facilities. 
If you plan to visit China, I highly recommend that you look for signs that depict W.C. for Foreign Visitors or look for the four stars outside the toilets. Otherwise, you have NO IDEA what you're getting yourself into. Of course, I am known for refusing to use any public toilets. During my trip in the 1980's with my friend Margaret, my refusal to go earned me the nickname "The Camel". Believe me, you have no idea how strong your bladder can be when you were faced with horrible bathroom conditions. You too, would hold it in for 12 or more hours until you returned to your hotel room. We wander out through the North entrance of the Forbidden City and walked over to Jingshan Park. It was created by all the earth excavated from the palace moat when the Forbidden City was being constructed. You have to climb the 198+ stairs (Matthew stopped counting) and it was Beijing's highest point during the Ming Dynasty. Once you reach the top (after stopping several times to catch your breath), you get a fantastic panorama view of the city and Forbidden City.
While at the top, we heard a loud chorus coming from somewhere. We didn't know where the music was coming
from. As we began our descent down, the music was getting louder. As we were making our way out of the park, we stumbled upon a large group of middle-aged singers all clutching a lyric book and singing in unison. It was quite a sight to see on a Sunday afternoon. You had pockets of people singing, dancing or just performing by themselves.
We wandered across the way to Beihai Park. This park was the Imperial Playground of the emperors and sits on 169 acres of land. We wandered around the park and came across an area of the park where people practice their calligraphy with water brushes. Matthew proceeded to grab a brush and write his name in Chinese. I wrote my name in Chinese and Tony's name in Chinese as well. It was really a great way to "graffiti" the area and we could do it legally.Monday
We took off early in the morning to join a tour. The tour consisted of a visit to Ming Tombs and the Great Wall. Both places are located about 2 hours outside of the center of Beijing. Ming Tombs is the final resting place of 13 of the 16 Ming emperors. We visited the Chang Ling tomb. This is the place where the emperor Yongle is buried. We saw the relics that were found in Yongle's tomb and is one of the better preserved tombs from the Ming Dynasty.
After lunch, we continued onto the Great Wall. The Great Wall is known as the "Ten Thousand Mile Wall" in Chinese. Let's just say that the Great Wall proved to be quite an aerobic workout. We took a bizarre single seat roller coaster up the side of the wall to reach the section of the wall known as Badaling. Many years ago when I was here, I had to literally climb up the mountain. The roller coaster ride wasn't installed until the early 1990's. Let's just say, the bizarre ride certainly took some of work out of it, but it was a bit hair raising.
We get dropped off and had to proceed to climb up to the top of the wall. The walk was on an incline. Matthew and Tony continued to the watchtower while, I was perched up against a railing trying to catch my breath. I don't get it. I walk over 20 miles a week in Shanghai and I can't climb up on an incline without wanting to pass out? How did the people who built the wall do it? Oh yeah, I forgot. Many died building the wall. Tony and Matthew had to scrape me off the side of the wall and help me back down. The ride going down the wall was different. This time, we had to sit in cars luge style. I kept thinking....."Thank goodness the life insurance policy has been paid this month." We ended our tour with a stop at a tea house. We learned the proper etiquette on how to drink tea and....in some instances....loudly slurping the tea. Ok-we'll skip the slurping part. I just can't bring myself to do that.
We'll be leaving Beijing tomorrow. Tony will be returning to Shanghai. Matthew and I will continue our journey to Qingdao where we'll see Bill, Liza, Brian and Tammy. It'll be a great reunion to see everyone after two years.
