Christmas in Beijing

Yesterday was a free day for us to chill out and rest.  We're so glad we had that extra day to catch up on sleep before all of the scheduled activities with the group began.  Mike & I ventured out to the store (similar to Wal-mart) and purchased warm gear to wear for our tour.  It was fun to figure out the money conversions and the sizing of the clothes we wanted to buy.  I'm sure we looked quite confused and helpless at times!  No one there spoke English and we were the only caucasians in the building, so people seemed to be fascinated by us.

Today our travel group met up for breakfast and then we toured Beijing all day.  In spite of the freezing temperature- 12 degrees F- we visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the pearl factory, silk factory, and a tea house.  We also enjoyed a traditional Chinese lunch and dinner.  I think it's safe to say that everybody is exhausted!  Our travel group is great.  We're enjoying getting to know everyone, and it's nice to have some fellow American travelers to join us on our journey.

It really didn't feel like Christmas for any of us.  However, it is a most memorable Christmas for all of us for sure!  At most of our stops, the clerks in the stores wished our group a "Merry Chirsmurse".  While we were on the Marco Polo bridge, an American guy walked by and happily shouted out, "Merry Christmas!", to us.  That brought a smile to our faces!  It's amazing how quickly we've begun to miss home and what's familiar.  It's good to be stretched though and experience new and different things.

I'm having difficulty uploading pictures from our camera...perhaps a slow internet connection?  So, I'll post a couple that Mike took with his ipod.  We'll try to post photos from our camera tomorrow.

Garden pagoda inside the Forbidden City.

Leaving the Forbidden City.