recap on beijing...round two..7/10

at the end of the tour we visited a 'family', a very gracious lady who turned out to have been an infant teacher in the huting (we get everywhere). she shares her courtyard home with her brother in law's family and her son's.
fascinating fact 2
if you want to know how many families share a courtyard, count the eletric meters!
we discussed pumpkins, she grows them in the sheltered courtyard where they climb up
onto the roof, and her pet turtles, kept in a bucket, poor things. we loved the lakes in the centre of the area and went back on our very last day in beijing.

4 after lunch the silk factory stop.
smelly and poor cacoons being boiled. the thought of using face cream made with boiled pupa revolted me. the girl was so insistent that 'we use all of the cacoon' as if that was a good thing...yuk!

5 the temple of heaven is a beautiful, totally wooden structure that uses 'no nails or cement' (we refrained from citing french roof construction in past times). it is highly decorative but, again, you can only peer through the doorway at its marvellous interior.
the surrounding park is a vast green lung for beijing (we went back there too) and has several relics. sadly, the 'longest covered passage in the world' was closed for renovation. there came a point when i began to ask our guides if we were looking at the real thing or a reconstruction!
day two

6 the great wall at badeling was heaving as lonely planet said it would be. lou and i 'heroically' (all walkers of the great wall are referred to as heroes and heroines) turned to the left. it is steeper and, therefore, meant to be less busy- joke! too much mist, too many tourists, too many souvenir sellers but i drank to simone's memory, albiet in water not coffee, and waved to the satellite, as instructed by lou, that can see it all from space!

7 at the ming tombs i expected to go underground but we just walked around the graceful complex. less busy and a pleasant pause in the day. macy used the time to test us on the information concerning iconography and the emperors that she had given us the day before! :)

8 a planned visit to a cloisonne factory. probably a tourist set up but the workers looked genuine and the techniques were fascinating to watch...and no cacoons suffering!

9 a stop on the hard shoulder so lou could photograph the 'birds nest' stadium being built for the opening and closing ceremonies of the olympics.

10 a teahouse stop, our first and best. a charming girl told us all about the teas in a courtyard teahouse while an ancient instrument was played...briefly. lou fell for the lichi tea with rosebuds...and the girl's smile?

so a packed two 'guided' days that left my head buzzing and feet aching but gave us plenty to think about and ideas for second visits...or not...those poor cacoons!