Beijing Hotels
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Day 3 - Tianemen Square-Forbidden City-Great Wall
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An exciting day awaits us ahead! We wake up early for a good breakfast at our hotel Club Lounge. Then downstairs to meet with our english-speaking tour guide for a 9 hour excursion. We begin our journey with a trip to Tianemen Square.
JOSE & CAT IN FRONT OF EMPEROR'S PALACE (TIANEMEN SQUARE)
Then a trip through the Forbidden City. Did you know that only the Emperor was allowed to wear yellow and the Empress red? Did you also know that the Empress and Concubines were not allowed to leave the walls of the Forbidden City? Or that the Empress and Concubines fought to have the 1st son of the Emperor, and the sons would fight to be next in charge too?
INSIDE THE WALLS OF THE FORBIDDEN CITY
ACCORDING TO OUR TOUR GUIDE, THIS WAS A WALL YOU TOUCHED FOR GOOD LUCK AND LOVE TOGETHER WITH YOUR PARTNER
Afterward, we headed off to a Pearl Factory and a Jade Factory and took a mini-tour. I think if we purchase something in these places the tour guide gets a commission or something (I'm assuming). It was interesting to see and visit nevertheless, and we did buy 1 or 2 things, but not very expensive items as we were on a limited budget. At the Jade Factory we also grabbed some Chinese lunch. We ordered rice and chicken. It tasted good. Jose ordered a soup which he didn't like.
Then we anxiously and excitedly headed off to the Great Wall of China. This very extensive wall was built by hand. Many men died while they were building it, and their remains were built into the wall. It's so impressive and remarkable that it LITERALLY takes your breath away. Jose & I decided we would be iron-men and try to walk a decent (short) portion of this wall ->  . Let's just say I was out of breath rather quickly. We went to the Badaling portion, which is where most of the tourists go.
A complimenting story that happened to me at the Great Wall: As we're hiking up these steps and this wall, Jose is walking ahead of me and I'm trailing behind trying to catch my breath. A young fellow comes up to me and him and I have the following dialogue:
Him - Miss, may I please take a picture with you? Me - (Looking around to see if he's talking to someone else) With Me? Him - Yes (nods his head) Me - (Still astonished) Why? Him - Oh, because you are so beautiful Me - (Confused and complimented at the same time) Sure (at this point Jose is wondering what's going on and starts heading back toward me and I yell over to him - Is it ok if they take a picture with me and he responds yea, go ahead)
So one of the young men get next to me while another takes a picture, then another one of them get next to me (pictured below is the 2nd guy) while they take a picture. I think this is too funny and flattering that I ask Jose to take a picture of me with the 3 of them and he does. Then Jose asks what happened since he didn't hear the whole conversation and says to me, "I've never had anyone ask to take a picture with me." I started laughing.
A FAN IN CHINA (JOSE TAKING A PICTURE OF THEM TAKING A PICTURE WITH ME)
MY FAN CLUB (I LOVE CHINA!) 
PRETENDING TO BE SITTING FOR A PICTURE BUT REALLY WANTING TO TAKE A BREAK TO CATCH MY BREATH
WHAT AN AMAZING VIEW & REMARKABLE PLACE! NO WONDER IT'S ONE OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
We had a pretty long day so we made one last visit from the highway of the 'Birds Nest' which is where the 2008 Olympics will be taking place in Beijing. Pretty cool that we got to see it in person. We also saw the 'Bubble Building'.
IN FRONT OF THE 'BIRDS NEST' WHERE THE 2008 OLYMPICS WILL BE HELD
Our driver Mr Young and tour guide Helen took us back to our hotel to end our travel day in Beijing.
WITH HELEN, OUR TOUR GUIDE FOR THE DAY (DEC. 1, 2007)
After a day of flying to China and 2 days of touring China, we decided to leave the rest of the evening to rest and relaxation so we both booked massages at the hotel. I had the traditional Chinese massage and Jose had the aromatherapy massage. It was different (obviously) than the traditional Swedish massage I normally do. She focused on the knots on my back and on the pressure points on my feet.
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| 3. | Day 3 - Tianemen Square-Forbidden City-Great Wall - Beijing, China Dec 01, 2007 |
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