December 24, 2017

So much for good intentions! Our goal to produce a weekly blog got derailed, but we're getting back on track. So this entry gives you all the highlights of the second part of Kristina's visit, and it also gives you a double dose of cuteness (spoiler alert).

When last we left you we were in Beijing.  Next up was the Forbidden City, formally known as the Palace Museum.  This is more amazing than we even imagined. It covers over 180 acres and has 980 buildings, completed in the year 1420. No, we did not see all the buildings, but we tried--we were there for about 5 hours!

Where Pu Yi, the Last Emperor of China, learned English

Beijing - The old and the new 

As we left, we headed toward Tienanmen Square, but the path was blocked and there was a large crowd gathering. We stuck around to see what all the excitement was about and found out it was time for the military to retire the colors, a formal procession each evening. Kathy mostly saw it through the upraised cell phones of people in front of her because there were too many people blocking her short view.

We went back to our hotel in the hutong (alley), then went out the other end looking for food. We found a nice little Chinese restaurant with the menu entirely in Chinese, but with a few pictures. We managed to order. The manager and waitress kept a close eye on our table - and laughed out loud at us a couple of times. Anyway, it was fun and good!

We ordered three different soups. They were all wonderful.

As we headed out for our day, we came across a "team meeting" of delivery drivers.  The Kangaroo Team:

We also visited the Temple of Heaven.  This complex was also completed in 1420 (man, were they busy back in those days!) and covers 660 acres.  This is almost 4 times the size of the Forbidden City, but with a lot fewer buildings. It was built as a place for the Emperor to make an annual tribute to the Gods for a good harvest.  And there are 60,000 trees here that are part of the park, including one that is 500 years old!

It's called the "Nine Dragon Tree" as you can
supposedly see 9 dragons intertwined on the trunk.

The Circular Mound Alter was fascinating. The number 9 is the number symbolizing the emperor, and this open alter is designed to really leverage that symbolism. The alter is made up of three levels of circular terraces, with 9 steps to get to each level. On the top, at the center is the "Heaven's Heart Stone" - a dome shaped round stone surrounded by 9 rows of plates forming concentric circles. The first row has 9 plates, the second row has 18, the third row 27, etc. so the final, outermost row has 81 (9x9).

Kristina on the "Heaven's Heart Stone." If you
make noise there is an amazing echo.

The main building is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.  

After a stop at the Pearl Market, we headed to the zoo. It's not a great time of year for a visit to the zoo because there weren't many animals visible, but any time of year is great to see the Giant Pandas. They were very entertaining. And cute--there's your first dose of cuteness.

Now for the real cuteness of the week! Our granddaughter, Molly, was born!

And we got to WeChat video with her and her father when we were on a bullet train bound from Beijing to Shanghai. Isn't technology wonderful? And aren't new little granddaughters just precious?

We got back to Shanghai and celebrated Christmas a few days early before Kristina left for her home in N. Carolina. It was great to have her visit us in China. We saw a lot and enjoyed her company. And had a new granddaughter join the family. It was a great week!