After a good night's sleep, everyone woke up refreshed and ready for the day. We enjoyed breakfast in the hotel where they served traditional Chinese breakfast fare along with some food that we were more familiar with. I noticed a few people enjoy the milk and cereal, the toast, butter and jelly, and the cold juice - the first for breakfast since we got here.
After a good breakfast and morning devotion we were on our way to the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The history of both places in very interesting and was well told by our day tour guide Daniel. He combined humor with historical fact to make it an enjoyable tour. He also new his crowd wearing a Minnesota Gophers hat. We had a number of great photo opportunities. Check them out at my Flicker account.
After the Forbidden City we were had our lunch break. About half of the group headed to McDonalds and the other half opted for Chinese fast food, Mr. Lee's.
After lunch we were on our way to the Temple of Heaven. It is a beautiful, peaceful park and museum, where many people come to socialize. Daniel mentioned that with couples only allowed one child, they find themselves quickly to be "empty nesters" so they look for many opportunities to socialize. This was the favorite stop of the day for many.
Next we were on to the Peking duck dinner. This is a famous traditional meal in Beijing. We were given many dishes to share which were all placed on a lazy susan in the middle of the table. When the duck finally came out, the server showed us how to prepare the pancake duck dish by wrapping it around out chopsticks. It was a delicious.
After the meal we returned to our hotel for an evening devotion and then to explore area of Beijing. We all headed to the Wu Mart grocery store. The Mandarin students were happy to be able to use their Mandarin to communicate in the store. Next a couple of boys and girls went to the massage parlor that Mrs. Leyrer had scoped out earlier while the rest of the girls went to the hair salon that offered a wash, scalp and neck massage, and style. The rest of the boys decided to go back to Wu Mart and stock up on more food before exploring the city within the parameters set up for them by Mrs. Leyrer and Mr. Sievert.
We all eventually made it back to the hotel and went to bed. Unfortunately, not everyone slept well as a couple of the boys got sick during the night. We ruled out the food as the cause for sickness since only a few people got sick and we all had eaten the duck dinner together. There were a few students sick at the camp a couple of the days, so we are thinking they must have caught a bug from them. This ended up changing our plans for Day 7. More on that in the next post.
After a good breakfast and morning devotion we were on our way to the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The history of both places in very interesting and was well told by our day tour guide Daniel. He combined humor with historical fact to make it an enjoyable tour. He also new his crowd wearing a Minnesota Gophers hat. We had a number of great photo opportunities. Check them out at my Flicker account.
After the Forbidden City we were had our lunch break. About half of the group headed to McDonalds and the other half opted for Chinese fast food, Mr. Lee's.
After lunch we were on our way to the Temple of Heaven. It is a beautiful, peaceful park and museum, where many people come to socialize. Daniel mentioned that with couples only allowed one child, they find themselves quickly to be "empty nesters" so they look for many opportunities to socialize. This was the favorite stop of the day for many.
Next we were on to the Peking duck dinner. This is a famous traditional meal in Beijing. We were given many dishes to share which were all placed on a lazy susan in the middle of the table. When the duck finally came out, the server showed us how to prepare the pancake duck dish by wrapping it around out chopsticks. It was a delicious.
After the meal we returned to our hotel for an evening devotion and then to explore area of Beijing. We all headed to the Wu Mart grocery store. The Mandarin students were happy to be able to use their Mandarin to communicate in the store. Next a couple of boys and girls went to the massage parlor that Mrs. Leyrer had scoped out earlier while the rest of the girls went to the hair salon that offered a wash, scalp and neck massage, and style. The rest of the boys decided to go back to Wu Mart and stock up on more food before exploring the city within the parameters set up for them by Mrs. Leyrer and Mr. Sievert.
We all eventually made it back to the hotel and went to bed. Unfortunately, not everyone slept well as a couple of the boys got sick during the night. We ruled out the food as the cause for sickness since only a few people got sick and we all had eaten the duck dinner together. There were a few students sick at the camp a couple of the days, so we are thinking they must have caught a bug from them. This ended up changing our plans for Day 7. More on that in the next post.
Next: Day 7