Trip of a Lifetime - Day 3

We got up early, 6:00 a.m., dressed and went to the dining room for an early breakfast. As I was in a Yiddish mode, I decided to have one of my favorite things to eat in the morning ... Lox, bagels and cream cheese with capers and onions ... plus a HUGE glass of orange juice. What more could one want to start the day!!

We then returned to the room to prepare for our first big Chinese outing. It was time for us to venture outside of the comforts of the China World and see how everyone else lives in Beijing.

Our driver picked us up at the appointed hour and we were off to our adventures of the day.

Our first stop of the today was at the Behai gardens.

Our little friend, Mitch, had suggested we go there as there were always "senior citizens" gathered doing exercises, dancing and playing badminton along with socializing in general (do you think that she thought we would like it there since we are in the senior cagtegory?) If that was the case, she was absolutely correct! One thing that they do in China when they meet you is to ask your age. That's not an insult but a good question. They then ask what you do. We were told not to feel insulted, but rather to feel honored that they cared enough about you to ask. Not a bad thing, really. Age and position are highly respected there.

The parks are a place to socialize and people gather there daily to visit rather than meeting in their homes. It would be nice if we would utilize our parks in that manner. They also play cards, Maj Jong and drink tea at the tea houses which are inside the parks.

The women would get in a line after doing some of their exercises and pat each on the on their backs and arms as they sang little songs. This was to help with their circulation and get themselves ready for the next set of exercises. What a good idea!

The gardens themselves were absolutely beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We spent nearly 2 hours in the park which flew by, and then we went back to our car which was waiting for us and were on our way to the Beijing Zoo.

The big attraction at the zoo was the Giant Pandas, or at least that's what we thought. However, what we found out was that WE were the main attraction! Not many Caucasians go to the zoo in Beijing, so everyone was looking at us! Our driver took us to a private entrance since it was Sunday and there were hundreds of people in line, so we didn't have to wait. Trust me, it's the ONLY way to go!

As I was snapping photographs of the animals, the people were taking photos of me! They were fascinated with our fair skin and light colored hair (thanks to Mother Nature!)

It was a very warm and humid day, and after several hours at the zoo, we were more than happy for our driver to take us back to the hotel for a cool shower, a cold beer and a bite of late afternoon lunch.

Our guide from Viking River Cruises called us on the phone in our room and gave us our instructions for tomorrow. Her name is Helen and she will be our personal guide for the next 3 weeks. We were to find out later that she is a real jewel .... sweet, pretty, efficient and very capable of taking care of her "flock". Viking hires only the best and she exceeded the requirements.

Frank went down to the lobby to watch them set up for a tea dance while I took a shower. He came back up to the room and we decided what we really needed was one more nap. After today we should finally be over jet lag.

Talk about a nap! We slept for nearly 4 hours. We missed both the tea dance and the Sunday evening concert! We then played a game of gin, had a drink, ordered room service and went to sleep again at 10:00.

While we were having cocktails, we asked each other what our pre-conceived impression of China was before we actually arrived there. Having had the privilege of visiting most of the major cities in the world at this point in our lives, we expected Beijing to be like most large cities. We were wrong! The architecture here is amazing and much more hi-tech than many other cities that we have visited. That came as no great surprise since we have been in Hong Kong several times, but here are other impressions we have so far.... there is a great respect for the elderly, the young women of a higher class in China are tall, willowy and extremely well dressed. The shopping mall below our hotel would put the shops on Rodeo Drive to shame. Every high dollar store that you have ever heard of is there.. and all within a city block! Everything from Gucci, Fendi, Chanel, Louis Vuitton ... you name it! If you are a shopper (Frank is still thanking the Lord that I don't like to shop :-)

The people are extremely polite, hospitable and very helpful. They speak very little English and it's difficult to understand them at times, but if you can't figure out what they are saying ... they will write it for you in English. They truly can't pronounce r's and l's! The city is immaculately clean which surprises me since there are millions of people here. I would defy you to find a piece of litter!

We finally gave up the ghost and were in bed by 9:00. We have a VERY full day tomorrow and we want to be raring to go in the morning. Are you up for it??? We were :-)

XOXO, Pcasso