Trip of a Lifetime, Day 6

I suppose that I was in such a hurry to got on board our boat when I posted yesterday that I forgot that we had to get to Xian and spend time there first!

We checked out of our wonderful hotel in Beijing after breakfast and took a tour of a silk carpet factory.

Watching the young women work on those beautiful silk carpets was such a treat. The high quality of some of the rugs was unbelievable. They were truly exquisite.

From there we went to the Hutongs for a rickshaw ride and a visit to a private home in the community. Our driver reminded me a little of Jackie Chan (do you suppose that was because we were in China???)

I took a lot of photographs along the way even though the ride was a little bumpy. Fortunately the driver was young and strong because he had quite a load with the two of us! Some of the streets were very narrow and there were bicycles around every corner and in every doorway. The markets were very interesting and all the people who live in the Hutongs shop there on a daily basis.

It was difficult for me to get in and out of the rickshaw, so when the rest of the group went on a walking tour, I stayed in the rickshaw and listened to music with the drivers. Our visit to a lady's home there was pre-arranged by Viking and she was gracious enough to open her home to us and serve us tea. She had lived there all of her life and is now retired from a very good job. This is her courtyard, which is shared by 3 other houses,

and here we are inside her place. The young woman on the left was our interpreter for this part of our tour as the lady who owned the house didn't speak English. She had lived here all of her life.

The word hutong comes from the Mongolian hottog meaning "water well". During the growth of towns and cities, wells dug by villagers formed the centres of new communities.
In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.
In old China, streets and lanes were defined by width. Hutongs were lanes no wider than 9 metres. Many are smaller; Beijing hutongs range in width from 10 metres down to only 40 centimetres.
Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history.

While we were still in the Hutongs we visited a nursery school where I found the infamous bathroom. I now have a smile on my face since I had accomplished my "mission" and was ready for lunch.

When we finished out visit to this old part of Beijing, we hurried to the airport to catch our flight to Xian. As were were short on time, we ate at the airport and once again we had a very good Chinese style meal. There are over three hundred of us that will be on the Viking Century Sun, so it's hard to imagine how much luggage there will be. Actually it's not, since we are only allowed one bag each ... but then there are the carry on's. This is only the tip of the iceberg!!! It was late when we got to Xian ... nearly 9:00 p.m., so we decided to stay at the hotel and have dinner. Sometimes it seems as though all we do is eat and walk with a little time out to sleep!

Much to our surprise and delight, our room turned out to be a suite! It was lovely and we really welcomed the bed with fresh, cool linens and a good night's sleep. Travel days always seem to be a bit of a hassle, even when you're having fun. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow but we're ready for it. Are you???

Pcasso