2/27/05
Today was once again full of incredible experiences. We thought that we would have another typical tourist day, but we ended up learning about life of a typical Chinese family in much greater detail than we ever thought we would.
The first stop of the day was famous Tian'anmen Square:
From there we walked north to enter the historic Forbidden City. We were amazed by how huge the walled city was. Much renovation was underway as Beijing prepares for the 2008 Olympic games.
Finally, our group took a rickshaw ride through some of the backstreets of Beijing.
What we didn't know was that we were going to stop and visit a local family and speak with them about life in China. Many of the dwellings are in groups of 8-16 units that are situated around a small central courtyard. Each unit has three rooms - bedroom, living room, and kitchen. We went to the home of a retired couple that had lived in the same home for 54 years! We were invited into their home for jasmine tea and some excellent conversation about how life in Beijing has changed throughout the years. What an eye-opening experience!
Now we need to pack back up for our flight south to Nanchang tomorrow. It's going to hard to sleep tonight!