We started our day off with breakfast at the hotel. Unfortunately, no waffles again this morning
(not even a waffle-maker in sight).
Jayson enjoyed making MANY pieces of toast. On a more positive note, I found the better
coffee machine. We dressed for a colder
day today. It was in the low 60s upper
50s and a little breezy.
We began the tour with the Temple of Heaven. On our way, Tony told us about his night and
some more information on daily life in China.
He couldn’t sleep because he was worried about his friend. His friend wanted to marry his fiancé, but
her family just asked for her dowry.
They asked for $200,000 RMB (about $30,000). His parents don’t have this much money, so
they needed to borrow half from friends and neighbors at 20% interest. That made him reflect on his own
situation. I’ve heard others talk about
the “Three Bigs”. These are the items
that one needs to own to make them “suitable” for marriage. Tony’s mother said that when she was young
the “Three Bigs” were: bicycle, washing machine, and sewing machine. If a man had this or could acquire it, he
could get a wife. When Tony’s older
sister was of marrying age, the “Three Bigs” were: motorcycle, washing machine,
and TV. Now, Tony has it the toughest,
his mom said. The “Three Bigs” are now:
car, apartment, and a credit card with money on it. This is not easy as cars and housing are very
expensive here in comparison to income.
He is glad that his girlfriend is still dating him (even though he is
old… 24) and he doesn’t have the “Big Three”, it must be true love. He said most girls are married between ages
18-20, definitely by age 22 and men marry between ages 20-22. However, older men might marry a young girl
if they can acquire the “Big Three”.
When we arrived at the Temple of Heaven, there were many
older people playing different versions of hackey sack and hitting a badminton
birdy back and forth. There were others
that were dancing, playing cards, and chess with Chinese pieces. This park is known for having the most old
trees of any park. Trees more than 300
years old have special red plates. It
was a perfect day for sight-seeing. It
was supposed to rain, but it held off all day!
The Temple of Heaven is the original version that Disney replicated on a
much smaller scale in their Showcase around the Lake. We LOVED that we could recreate the picture
that the six of us took there almost three years ago. The emperor used this temple to pray for the fall
harvest in the summer and the spring rains in the winter. The emperor spent two days with lots of
sacrifices and prayer time. The original
paint choices reflected an honor of different elements. The top was originally green, representing
the farmer and common people. The middle
was yellow, a color reserved only for the emperor. The bottom was blue, representing heaven. However, the next emperor (who was very
powerful and liked to assert his authority) decided that all levels should be
painted blue in honor of heaven.
From there, we headed to the Pearl Market. This is a large building with many items for
sale. It is all open to bargaining on
price. I attempted my best at
bargaining, but probably paid more than I should have for the headbands and key
chain I purchased for about $6. Brayden
tried his hand at bargaining and got the lady down to $4 for a Great Wall
knick-knack. Mark, once again, was
Master Bargainer when he brought a lady down from $40 to $4 on a stuffed mama
and baby panda.
We found a McDonalds next door and were happy to get some
lunch. Meilynn and I were happy to get
the spicy chicken sandwich. Luckily, we
found Tony hiding out there and he helped us order the sandwiches without lettuce. I haven’t been brave enough to attempt this
on my own. We also got pineapple pies
this time. The last two attempts have
ended with apple.
When we got back to the hotel, we decided to take a
nap. The kiddos must have been tired,
because no one fought us on this idea.
We woke up (a little later than planned) and walked down to Pizza
Hut. They seated us right in the
front! We were quite the spectacle. Afterwards, we headed to the grocery
store. We tried a blue Sprite, which
ended up being mint and tasted like breath mints. Jayson decided to spend a little money and
get a “Kinder Joy”. An egg that contains
some chocolate truffles and a toy surprise (right up his alley). He ended up with a car. We all stood around like it was Christmas
morning. We exited the store in a
different location and noticed a lot more shops to explore. We should finish sightseeing earlier tomorrow
and are excited to explore these new shops.
Tomorrow we see the Summer Palace (on a dragon boat I believe) and the Beijing Zoo!! Such fun!!
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