We started the day in Beijing, with an early morning visit to the Forbidden City. Very majestic and beautiful red buildings and pavillons, topped by golden tiles. Wide courtyards paved with old cobblestones, and a garden of old cypress trees. Very strange to think that a community, albeit a very elite and exclusive one, lived entirely inside those walls. Our guide, Helen, told us stories about the eunechs, concubines, various empresses, and emperors--all the stories featured power struggles, strategies, ruthless crimes, and loneliness . . . made me wonder why anyone would want to be a member of the royal household. Apparently people did, probably to escape poverty and improve life for their families.
From there we went directly to the airport. Most of the group headed to another province. One other couple, Terry and Pamie, flew to Guangxi with Pierre, Libby, and me. The three hour flight was notable for much disturbing turbulence, and horrible food. I couldn't eat lunch, and that's a big deal for me.
Things improved once we landed, and saw the gorgeous tropical landscape, and met our local guide, Matthew. He is sort of like a character in a thirties film, very suave and debonair. His English is awesome. He dresses like an urban Indiana Jones. He seems like he'll be an excellent guide. Tomorrow he is taking us to his favorite market to go "hunting", which is his term for shopping for bargains.
We checked into the Mingyuan Xindu Hotel, which is quite luxurious. Then trooped off to dinner at a local restaurant, which one of the other group members, who had previously adopted in Nanning, recommended. It was sort of a fiasco, as no one working there spoke English, and my Mandarin is "bu hao." I thought I ordered shrimp, and ended up with birds' beaks--at least that's what I think they were. The rest of the dishes were equally surprising, and rather disappointing. We did get lots of beer, as when I asked for 4, they brought 4 huge bottles!
Zai jian for now: tomorrow is MeiMei Day. I am trying to envision it, but really can't. Wish us luck, everyone!
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