Thursday 23rd May
Today we had agreed with Judy that we would leave a little later than normal given our late arrival so we set off at 10.30
First stop Tiananmen Square which I have to say I found rather underwhelming! Not sure if one is allowed to say such things but there it is.
Huge crowds queuing to see Mao's mausoleum. But other than that all I could think about was the student demonstrations of a few years ago.
Perhaps the Forbidden City will have more to offer?
Judy knows these places well because she has been a tour guide here for many years. She does also do trips much further afield but is based here in Beijing.
In the Forbidden City we saw the ceramics collection which was absolutely wonderful. Some great pots and porcelain.
Of course it is an amazing place. We read a book called 1421 The Year China Discovered the World which is about a huge fleet of Chinese ships which left China after the completion and opening of the Forbidden City and it is odd to think that this place has been here, some of it unrestored since 1421!
Huge place. You could spend several days here and not see it all but it is never clear which bits will be open and which will be closed. This was the same as Red Square and The Kremlin
Not too crowded but where there were crowds Judy seemed to know how to go to a quieter place and avoid them
She is fascinated by our story and we will send her some of the blog posts once we get home.
After we had done the Forbidden City we went out to the Summer Palace which was used by the Emperor just during the Summer months. It is huge and has a big lake and lovely pathways and canals.
In one area along the canal the Emperor made his servants dress up as shopkeepers and craftsmen and play at shops so he could do what ordinary people did and go shopping.
He as were all the Emperors was obsessed with the fear of being assassinated so he never went anywhere where ordinary people went
We saw the famous White Marble Boat which is not white and is not marble!!
We also saw the Emperors boat which is moored under the shade of trees to protect it from the sun
This really is a lovely place
Lastly on our first day with Judy we visited the Hutongs. These are by the Bell and Drum Towers in Beijing and are the place where ordinary people lived and still do live
We went in a pedi cab round the Hutongs. Pedi cabs are like rickshaws with red velvet covers and golden fringe. It costs 10 Yuan per person for the ride which was 40 minutes and a man cycles round pulling the pedicab attached to his bike!
We stopped to go into a house where the family have lived for many years.There was a lady and her daughter in law. They were getting supper but stopped to make us tea and to show us a model of the original Hutongs which are a bit more modernised now
The husband is an artist and paints snuff bottles. This is a tradition which the daughter in law has also learned and which is amazingly intricate. With a very fine brush at right angles to the handle they paint delicate pictures from the inside of the bottle onto glass that has been roughened somehow. I think be some sort of acid. This snuff bottle painting is a tradition of this part of China and the family rely on sales to earn money.
The snuff bottle we bought took her three days to paint!
There was no sign of the men whilst we were there but perhaps they were pedalling us on the pedicabs.
The Hutongs are small houses originally built round a courtyard with several properties around each courtyard. They don't seem to have loos because there are a lot of toilet blocks around the place and we saw at least two Community Committee HQs The Hutong we visited did seem to have running water
Judy told us that the people living there would like to move out into modern new accommodation but the Government will not allow them to because they are part of what brings tourists!
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