Day 3 Details and Photos

The breakfast buffet is included in our hotel cost and is western style. We really enjoy that! It has everything you can imagine except cold cereal. We spent a long morning in Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. You can't imagine how BIG the place is! I think the guide said it was just under 900 Yards Long and over 400 yards wide (Tiananmen Square). The Forbidden City is 600 years old and was the home of the Emperor. They said if the emperor were to stay in one room for each day of his life, he would be 27 years old before he saw all the rooms of the Forbidden City. There were so many buildings! Many of them are under going updates to prepare Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. We then had a nice lunch with many tradional Chinese dishes, much the same as you would see in a restaurant in the states. They have a Lazy Susan in the middle of the table and all the dishes sit on it. All you need to do is turn it to reach what you want to eat. I had a Diet Coke. Next we were off to the Pearl Market. We spent an hour shopping. My goodness is the place BIG. The shops we have been to are about the size of a large warehouse. Next we went to a residential neighborhood and had a RickShaw ride. We stopped and got to see a tradional Chinese Home. This one belonged to an artist. After we were done we went back to the hotel and had a half hour so Greg and I went to a Pizza Hut nearby. Then we went to an Acrobat Show. I was truely amazed and some of the things they did. One of the things I won't forget is they got 13 Ladies on one bicycle! We came back to the hotel and I went directly to the restaurant for a glass of milk. Someone in our group suggested I try Milk to help me sleep. I don't know why I didn't think of that! After all, that is exactly what I do at home each night before bed and it always does the trick to help me sleep. Off to bed I went for a good nights rest. If you check this and don't see photos on this blog, check back. I am going for breakfast now and will download the photos later. Gotcha time is only 8 hours away!

~Judy