China: Day 3

Mya and Claire taking pictures with their fan. I captured a picture of the little girl's momma taking a picture ;) 

Claire was a great sport each and every time she was approached. It was countless times. She smiled, whereas Mya has clearly had enough and is ready to go into seclusion.

More fans.

The mirror in our bathroom. Note the square. The intel briefing Chris received told him about the square. Supposedly the absence of fog indicates a mirror or "something" behind the mirror. Gross. Yep. There is great video captured ;)

The moat outside The Forbidden City.

These men were fishing. Their poles looked like long plastic tubes with string on the ends. 

My Mom in the Forbidden City.

Mya in the Forbidden City.

Forbidden City fun. Running around to pass the time.

More entertaining.

Claire at the Forbidden City.

Day 3 began with a trip to the Forbidden City. It was a beautiful sight surrounded by a huge moat. There were 3 sections to it. The inner portion was only for the Emperor (and his millions of women), the next layer was for officials and the outermost layer was ceremonial. We spent a few hours there, which was much too long for me as well as the kiddos. Needless to say, entertaining was needed.
The second stop was a visit to the Silk factory. It was very interesting. We learned how silk is made, watching the silk cocoon being separated from the pupa, then stretched over a loom and layered. If one silk worm produces one cocoon then the silk is the thread unwinds easily and is used for fabrics, clothing, etc., but if two or more worms make one cocoon, the yarn cannot be easily unraveled; therefore, being used in comforters. The silk comforters/duvets were lovely. The silk provides ventilation and temperature control. We bought one and my Mom bought two. They even vacuum packed them so we could travel easily.
After the silk factory, we ate at another Chinese restaurant. At this point, Chinese food was not preferred. We were a bit tired of it, but ate reluctantly.

My Mom being hassled by a peddler. He was rather funny spilling his nonsensical sales pitch--2 for $5 or 5 for $1. It wasn't quite right, but he had no idea. My Mom was laughing all the way as he followed her along. She was a peddler magnet. They all liked her way too much.

Real mahjong in action. Who'd have guessed it was a real game?! Only kidding.

Look at the size of that thing! Huge! 

Claire getting a close up view of the babies.

Surveillance  security camera inside the house.

Kung fu weapons. The kung fu dude teaches kung fu at the same school Bruce Lee attended.

The rickshaw parade.

Claire and Chris in their rickshaw.

This blurry picture courtesy of our rickshaw driver. Good thing he pedals a bike better than he takes pictures.

The next stop was Old Beijing, which involved a comical ride in a Rickshaw. My Mom lovingly called this a New Orleans funeral procession short of Louis Armstrong on the trombone. We were a sight to behold--20 or so rickshaws parading through the little alleys of Beijing. Funny, funny time. Claire and Mya loved the ride. It also felt a little bit "Amazing Race-like." Such a memorable experience. We stopped at a doorway where we learned how the gate, door, paintings were symbolic representations of status. We then made our way to a "family home." I am still unsure if a family actually resided in the home, but while inside we were mesmerized by the "grasshopper tamer" and a "kung fu artist." The grasshopper tamer actually pulled 2 giant grasshoppers from inside his shirt. They were kept there as a source of warmth. told us of his battles. Grasshopper breeding & fighting is a major income producer. It was sort of a surreal experience thinking that we'd ventured halfway around the world to China only to learn about grasshoppers. Really?!! Strange! We were especially taken with the surveillance security cameras throughout. It felt rather propaganda-ish as we were told of high-speed internet access, saw the big screen tv mounted to the wall, and community like atmosphere of this small village. This area still has community bathrooms in which you have to wake up early to avoid waiting. Not exactly a selling point to me, but we were told people don't want to leave the village because they enjoy the sense of community. There were no couch, comfortable chairs or any other indication that people truly lived in that house, but we were repeatedly assured they lived there.
The next stop was SHOPPING! Yay!! It was amazing. We went to a local market, where we stocked up on clothes and so much more. Definitely a highlight of my trip! The second significant point at the market was Mya. She chose this trip to truly grasp the potty training thing. She'd been doing pretty well prior to this, but our trip to China was the first time where she was telling us she had to go potty, woke up dry most nights and had virtually NO accidents. Who'd have guessed I'd be potty training in China! Oiy. I remember thinking back in August how I wanted to keep her in diapers so I could avoid potty training on an airplane, but here I am. Potty training in China--literally holding Mya over the squatting toilet. (Most of the places we visited had several squatters, but a couple of normal toilets, but this place was ALL squatters. It was quite the sight.) Claire refused to use the squatters at all. She wanted no part in hovering. I would have avoided them too if I could have. They are nasty. Thank goodness for Western modernization. :)
By this point, we were rather tired. The bus stopped at Wangujing street to show people the Chinese food vendors--scorpion, snake, silk worms, etc. Claire crashed on the ride there, so we just stayed in the bus. It was a long, action packed day.