Nov 10 Beijing City Tour #2/ Shanghai

Had another full day in Beijing. Went to the Temple of Heaven that was used by the Emperor twice a year to make sacrifices to the gods for harvest or give thanks for a productive year. The major tower was constructed with no nails, just pillars interlocked together (like lick-n-logs). The main colors are blue, yellow, and green that are on almost all buildings in Beijing. Blue=sky Yellow=people Green= earth. Next stop was Beihai Park that was a public park on the outskirts of the temple where tons of retired people come to all sorts of activities. The park is full from 6 am – 6pm everyday. They exercise, dance, ribbon dance, sing, play cards, racket ball, hacky sack, comedy acts, and try to sell small trinkets. People bring snacks and picnic stuff and can spend all day there. They were all so cute and I was just amazed that at their age they would be doing all this in the freezing cold! Wish there was something like this in the US because I think more people would enjoy it. Had lunch in a 5 star restaurant called Wahaha and it was the best meal we had had all trip. I am soo sick of Chinese food though. I like US Chinese so much better, trust me, real Chinese food is nothing like it by any means. The last activity on our trip was taking a tour through a town via rickshaw. It was a nice afternoon and the air was fresh. The town was an old military town and we got to walk through the street. We visited a family’s home and got the talk with them through an interpreter. Mostly basic and simple questions about everyday life were asked but the most interesting answers was how much the house was worth. $3.5 MILLION! Now this house to any American would look like a simple house in the country or in a small suburbia town. It was all one floor but was in the shape of a square with a small courtyard in the center. 3.5 million dollars! Jeeze! I guess it was because of its location just outside the Forbidden City but didn’t look like it. After rode back to the bus in the rickshaw and the weather was so nice I didn’t want to leave. Got to the airport and took our 2 hr flight to Shanghai. Watched a movie and took a nap. Made it back to the ship around 8:30 pm and then went out with the Rollins girls at 10 pm to meet one of their friends that was studying in Shanghai. Met up at this club called Rouge Bar. Very red and very expensive but great music. Met their friend and she had a friend with her who was from all places FAIRFIELD, CT! But it gets even better she went to Laurelton for high school and knows Brittany and all those girls. Goes to college at Miami of Ohio and is good friends with Matt Stephens and knows these two swimmers at Charleston. IT IS A SMALLLLLL WORLD. Of all places….Shanghai to run into someone who knows like a good ¼ of my world. (I can’t remember her name but I think her last name was Ryans or something). So spent most of the night there and got back to the ship pretty late.