China - Days 2 & 3

The second day featured a visit to Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City (across the street from each other), a silk factory, and the Temple of Heaven.  And on the third day, I visited the zoo.

This huge bouquet is in Tiananmen Square.
It is there in celebration of their National Day, Oct. 7th.

I am trying to show how large the area is.

Here are the flowers up close.

One of the many structures in the Forbidden City.

The masses of people that were not evident the first day, was very much evident as we trekked to these landmark.  The reason the large numbers are not seen on the streets, is that they have a wonderful underground pathway/street system, designed to allow people to cross the busy streets, and access the subway system from underground.  I was struck by the number of Chinese visitors, but was told they outnumber foreigners every day of the week.  These folks are the ones who live in vast, rural areas of the country.

A sun dial.

The Forbidden City

We're leaving the Forbidden City.

A really interesting side note is the more than a dozen times people stopped us to ask to take pictures with them.  It appears that black folks are a rare sight in these parts.  The folks who asked were the bold ones.  There were many others who took our pictures on the sly.  It really was kind of funny.  This was not unique to us though.  Other black friends who have been here said the same thing.  Our tour guide said it was happening because we were foreigners, but there were blond folks near us who were not getting any attention.

This is a demonstration of how silk is extracted from larvae-encased egg looking thingy.

This is the Temple of Heaven.

Me in front of the Temple of Heaven.

A close of the temple.

This is where the sacrificed animals were burned.

A second temple.

A really cool, twisted tree.

Also located at the Temple of Heaven.

It is believed when you stand on the circle platform,
your prayers go directly to heaven and are guaranteed to be answered.

This is really beautiful, in spite of the fierce looking dragon head.

An oyster is opened for us.  I guessed there would be three pearls inside.  There were 22!
We were each given one as a keepsake.

Close up of the pearls.

A panda eating apples.

I have more pictures of the pandas, but I'm having technical difficulties uploading them.  I'll post them when I get home.

This was a wonderful trip.  Although it was a quickie, but I'm thrilled with what we were able to see and do.

As always, thanks for taking this ride with me.