Tuesday was sightseeing day. After being picked up at 7AM (ugh!), we stopped at 3 other hotels to pick up people from Mexico, Australia and Wisconsin. We began another day in Tian'anmen Square, then walked across the street to the Forbidden City. This is an amazing area that housed the Emperors of years past. It was completed in 1420 and is the most magnificent architectural complex in China. There were 24 emperors that ruled from here for nearly 500 years. It was the exclusive domain of the imperial court and dignitaries until the 1920's and was opened to the public in 1949, the year Mao came to power. There is a lot of renovation going now on with the Olympics just 5 months away. We then traveled to the Temple of Heaven, which was completed during the Ming Dynasty and is one of the largest temple complexes in China. The architecture and symbolism is amazing and the emperors would make sacrifices and pray to heaven for good harvests. The circular temple represents the whole world and the blue color signifies the blue sky.
After the Temple of Heaven, we went to a pearl market to see how pearls are found in clams. They opend up a clam and at least 25 little pearls were found. We never would have guessed that many pearls were in there. We then went to lunch and another tea demonstration. The tour ended up at The Summer Palace that was a half hour from the Forbidden City. This is where the Emperors would visit to escape the confines of the Forbidden City. It has a beautiful lake and miles of walking paths. They would boat down a river to the Summer Palace and it's a beautiful retreat - almost reminded us of what Lake Minnetonka might have looked like at the turn of the century around Lafayette or Wayzata Bay.
The mother and son from Milwaukee were very interesting. Remember the name Gerard Taylor. He is 22 years old, graduated from Syracuse and is playing the lead (Simba) in the Disney production of the The Lion King in Hong Kong. He has been there 5 months and has a month to go in the production. Then he is heading to LA to search his dream of acting. We'll be watching!
After the Temple of Heaven, we went to a pearl market to see how pearls are found in clams. They opend up a clam and at least 25 little pearls were found. We never would have guessed that many pearls were in there. We then went to lunch and another tea demonstration. The tour ended up at The Summer Palace that was a half hour from the Forbidden City. This is where the Emperors would visit to escape the confines of the Forbidden City. It has a beautiful lake and miles of walking paths. They would boat down a river to the Summer Palace and it's a beautiful retreat - almost reminded us of what Lake Minnetonka might have looked like at the turn of the century around Lafayette or Wayzata Bay.
The mother and son from Milwaukee were very interesting. Remember the name Gerard Taylor. He is 22 years old, graduated from Syracuse and is playing the lead (Simba) in the Disney production of the The Lion King in Hong Kong. He has been there 5 months and has a month to go in the production. Then he is heading to LA to search his dream of acting. We'll be watching!
Tonight, Billy's boss at IMD Marketing Douglas Wang took us out to dinner at a famous and popular Beijing restaurant called Quanjude that specialized in Peking Duck. Because it is near the Olympic village, we were told the restaurant will be frequented by famous people during the Olympics. It was an incredible dinner with the duck being carved at our table. Believe it or not, the ducks are registered and we received a certificate of verification from the restaurant. In other words, as Meg said, our duck had a number. Shown in the picture in front of the kitchen area where the food is cooked are Douglas, myself, Meg, Billy, Jingyi and Carmen who works in Billy's office as well. The restaurant happened to be right across the street from our hotel, and it was really a treat for all of us.
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