Today we started off the day by visiting Tiananmen Square. The square is very large and was filled with people (both locals and tourists), but we did manage to take a group photo under Chairman Mao's picture.

We then headed into the Forbidden City of which the outer area begins just on the edge of the square. My favorite part of the Forbidden City was the imperial garden which had many interesting rock formations intermixed with trees and shrubs.

The rest of the buildings were interesting but not that different from the architectural style we had already seen at the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. The weather was a bit hotter than on previous days, and the site much more crowded. The crowds made it difficult to enjoy it the way we would have liked. What was amazing was that we actually ran into a couple there that only live a few blocks from us! The wife works at UTA. I think these were the only Americans outside of our group whom we have talked to on the trip, and they live five minutes from us and just happened to be at the Forbidden City at the exact same place and time. It is amazing how small the world can be.

After lunch, we visited a silk factory, and Alex thought it was really interesting to see how silk is made from the cocoon of the silkworm. Then we went next door to a Bank of China in order to change some money that we will need in Nanchang for adoption fees. During this process, we got to witness a near riot (just a lot of yelling and poking - no punches thrown) as a local person tried to cut in line in front of others. It was very involved and basically brought everything at the bank to a standstill for a little while.

We then went on a hutong tour on a rickshaw...

The hutongs are traditional housing areas where several buildings are built around a central courtyard. The buildings typically house a number of relatives. We learned how to read the traditional signs built into the entryway to each hutong which shows the occupants' profession, social and financial status. We were able to visit a family in one hutong who served us jasmine tea and talked to us through an interpreter about their daily life. They had a pet grasshopper in a little bamboo cage which they brought down and put on the table in front of Alex. Mr. Wan, the owner, then fed the grasshopper a worm which Alex thought was really cool. We were surprised to learn that the hutongs are now very expensive to live in although they seem like run down areas based on our standards. Our guide, Rocky, explained that this is because the owners actually own the property along with the courtyard which is highly prized in Beijing, whereas most families now live in small, high-rise apartments.

We ended up the day by going to eat a traditional Peking duck dinner which was good, and then heading back to the hotel to pack and get ready for our trip to Nanchang tomorrow. Less than 24 hours until we should have Katie with us! We can't wait to finally have her with us.