Last Day in Beijing

Rich and I had a great night sleep and thankfully I didn't wake up with a head the size of Texas. My back now was just itchy and still a little sore. Rich once again affirmed, yup I had gotten bit.

We were excited to for our private tour today to see the Lama Temple, Hutongs, Drum Tower and to have a ride on a Rickshaw. We were to meet Jenny in the lobby at 10am. Sure enough she was there waiting for us. We proceeded out to our driver and we were on our way.

I had told Rich so much about Jenny I was excited for him to meet her. She had become more like a friend then a tour guide. Rich was enjoying talking with her as we drove and he was asking some general questions. She laughed and said, "are you a journalist?" In reality the people in China are leery about saying too much about their country and having their names associated with it. Rich immediately assured her he was not and apologized if he had frightened her. Honestly, his questions were very general in nature so I was somewhat surprised by her reaction.

Our first stop was going to be the Lama Temple. The temple is Beijing's most visited religious sites and one of the most important functioning Buddhist temples. Only about two dozen monks live in this complex today, but the temple once was home to as many as 500 monks. We were dropped off at the entrance and the first thing you smell and see is the thick spicy smoke of incense. There are five main halls to visit. One of the halls houses a 85 foot Maitreya Buddha carved from a single sandalwood block. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures inside any of the halls. The entire open courtyard is full of people burning three sticks of incense and bowing to the Buddhas. Jenny explained to us, even those that are not practicing Buddhist in China come here to ask for a wish and light the incense. If your wish is granted you are supposed to come back and thank the Buddha. She also said during one of the Chinese Holidays celebrated on January 1st the entire area is covered in smoke and the line to get into the Temple is very long. Outside of the temple are shops after shops selling incense. We wonder how they all stay in business.

After our visit to the Temple we proceeded to go to a restaurant for lunch. We went to a restaurant that was Sichuan style. We had some wonderful food that tasted much more like Chinese food in the states. After lunch we headed on to the Hutong area where we would have our first Rickshaw ride and a tour of a typical Chinese home. Hutongs are alleyways that are living museums of the old city. They are still used streets of courtyard houses and shops. They are full of life: washing is strung out from windows and telephone poles, vegetable and flowers are planted where ever space is available. Old folks sit playing chess, drinking beer or tea. Jenny pointed out that all the houses are painted grey or are grey brick, she explained this is because in ancient times the only house that could have colors other then grey were in the Forbidden City. I cannot imagine why they have stayed to this rule as it looks pretty sad to me. Especially since the sky seems to always be grey as well. We enjoyed a Rickshaw ride through some of the area and then proceeded to tour a typical Chinese home. This seemed a bit touristy to us although it was interesting. The gentleman that owned the home sat across the street and waved to everybody as they went in to his home and paid the fee. Jenny did explain this home had been in his family for many years and this would be the only reason he still had it today. It was a typical courtyard home where four small individual rooms all opened up into a small courtyard. Each room was for different members of the family based on age or gender. She also explained to us that the number of posts over the door symbolized the importance of the family that lived there. She said most of the people that had lived in these homes during the time of the Dynasties were members of the government.

We then went on to our final stop which would be the Drum Tower. Until late in the 1920's this tower housed 24 drums and was Beijing's timepiece. Sadly all but one of the drums was destroyed and the one remaining is in need of renovation. The climb to the tower consists of 67 stairs that are straight up, I figured this would be a piece of cake after the Great Wall but it actually took my breath for a few minutes. We were lucky that when we reached the top we would be able to hear the drum ceremony that they perform a few times a day. It was wonderful. We then headed downstairs to meet our driver and proceed back to our hotel. We said our good byes to Jenny, swapped emails and went back to our room. It is hard to explain but just being out for the day in China seems to make you feel dirty. I am not sure if it is the dust, the smog or justthe amount of people. Once we were showered we decided that we would have a quiet night in the hotel...........or so we thought!
Tomorrow is our last day in China and Kathrine will be taking us shopping to the Silk and Pearl Market !!