Beijing -- Tiananmen Square

The bus dropped us off and we started our three hour afternoon walk that would take us across Tiananmen Square, then through the Forbidden City....

On our approach to the square, we first saw the Zhenyangmen Gatehouse (above) and the Qianmen Archer Tower (below) which are located on the opposite side of the square from the "Heavenly Peace Gate" leading into the Forbidden City.

 

As we rounded the corner, these two soldiers were walking along the sidewalk, saw us, did their perfect toe point turn and stood at attention, apparently to allow us to take their picture. Well, Rodney and Brian wanted their picture with the soldiers, so moved over toward them. The soldiers, pretty much in unison, each held up a gloved hand signifying 'stop'! We were all like, "Oh! Ok!?!" 

Looking across the street at Tiananmen Square and the gate wall to the Forbidden City. 

As we crossed the square, the National Museum of China was on our right.

In the middle of the square is the Monument to the People's Heroes. The Great Hall of the People can be seen in the background. 

At the back of the square are these two ginormous screens!! There was music playing and some kind of video loop showing.... 

We found it interesting that these two soldiers/guards were standing very statuesque in glass boxes beside the flag.

An interesting tidbit about Tiananmen Square-- the square is closed every June 4 in fear of retaliation from family members of those killed during the protests in 1989.

Our group souvenir photo....
The little characters are the Olympic mascots.

After we crossed the square and took the underpass to the other side of the road, we found a couple of soldiers in place allowing photos to be taken with them :)
An interesting side note-- it seems the soldiers and even police that we saw, instead of having name tapes or a name tag had a number.....

This guy stands outside the Heavenly Peace Gate.

In an emergency, call 999!! 

Not sure where this cannon was from originally, but it was impressive!

We learned a little bit about Chinese child-rearing---
when it comes to potty training, the Chinese do it very differently!!
When the child turns one, they start dressing them in "split pants" which are pants with a split crotch. So, when the child needs to use the toilet, they simply squat where they are and go!!! So, we saw a few Chinese baby bums peeking out of their split pants!! Although, at times, the parents will put a diaper on the child, sometimes under the split pants, but sometimes over them!!

 

Beijing -- Silk Factory

Our next stop of the day was at a Silk Factory....

I absolutely LOVED this rug!!!
Didn't see a price tag, though, but was sure-- if I had to ask the price, I couldn't afford it.....

Our host was describing the life of the silk worm. Each cylinder shows the next stage of development. He talked about the occasion where two silk worms would 'cocoon' together. Even though that would make for twice the silk, the strands would be all tangled, showing-- two worms don't make it right.

Silk is removed from around the worm in one of two ways....
With the silk cocoons in bowls of water, these machines are unwrapping the silk creating silk threads used for scarves, ties, robes, etc. You could barely see the threads in mid-air as they are so fine. The cocoons in the water looked like jumping beans as they'd get pulled out of the water as the thread was removed.

 

The other removal is by hand, removing the cocoon and stretching it out over these wooden arches. Before being stretched, it would look like a finger-tip cover.

 

Our host was showing us just how strong the silk is!

When the silk casings have been removed and stretched out some, they carefully spread them out, looking like a spider web, and lay it atop a stack of other silk layers. These will be used as filling for a duvet. The duvets are varying thicknesses depending on the level of warmth needed. Extremely light, yet very snuggly warm!!

Again, the kids got a try!
The adults got to try this one, too. It really was amazing how much it could be spread without breaking!!

Following the demonstration, we were given thirty minutes to shop, which was not near enough time to investigate all the lovely items they had for sale!! We did learn, they were right--- they prices at the government 'factory' were MUCH better than at other stores having to pay middle-man fees.

Then it was off to lunch....
Sunny informed us the Chinese eat everything--
everything with four legs except the table
and everything with two wings except a plane :0)

Our first lunch was at the WaHaHa Hotel, which is owned by the richest man in China!!

Sunny was telling us about the 'gifts' placed before the Buddha statue.

Isn't that just a lovely sink??

Our dining room and our lunch...
(This is Flat Stanley from Lawson, Missouri!)

Served in traditional Chinese style-- on a giant lazy susan in the middle of the table. At this meal we had sweet and sour pork, beef and potatoes, bok choy, steamed fish, soup, tofu and celery, and chicken and carrots. And, traditionally accompanied by rice and hot jasmine tea!! Fruit comes out last as dessert.

This place really had some interesting light fixtures!!

 

Following lunch, we were off for two more adventures:
Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City!!

Beijing -- Temple of Heaven

 

This fabulous walkway is a great place to visit.

The gateway to the Temple grounds.

This Taoist temple, built in the early 1400s by the builder of the Forbidden City, was originally used for annual ceremonies of prayer to heaven for a good harvest.

It was opened to the public for the first time in 1918.

 

 

 

 

We saw these super cool dragon head drain spouts again at the Forbidden City.

I would have loved to been able to go out this gate to see these lanterns up close!

 

The HUGE doors also have big thresholds! They came up to our knees and were about six to eight inches thick.
Legend has it evil spirits can only go in a straight line, therefore are unable to climb over the step!
A Sunny-funny about those thresholds: when going through the gate, the men would step over with their left foot and the women with their right, so----- women are always right!!

A prime example of old meeting new..... high rises outside this old city wall.

 

Inside the altar room

In China today about 10% follow Taoism (a mix of Buddhism and Confucianism), the same amount as Muslim, while 50%  are Buddhist, and 20% have no religion being "too busy." The remaining 10% follow "Western" religion which we assume probably means Catholicism.

 

And, of course, another couple of cuties!!