Wednesday was our last full day in China.  We decided to join up with two other ladies that we had met on the tour and visit a hutong.  A hutong is a neighborhood area with many of the houses built around a small quadrangle.  Once Beijing was full of hutongs but most of the hutongs have been ripped down to make way for skyscrapers, new apartment buildings and highways.  We took a taxi to the Shichahai hutong..  At the hutong, we went over the pedicab stand.  What is a pedicab?  A pedicab is a cross between a bicycle and a taxi.  The front of a pedicab has a single wheel and looks like a bicycle with a seat for the driver.  The back of the pedicab has two wheels, a place for two people to sit with folding hood/roof/umbrella that goes over the top of the passengers.   Why were we taking a pedicab?  The streets of the hutong are very narrow and cars can not go down them.  The hutong is fairly large and walking around is would take too long plus this looked like much more fun.
       Dr. Novak and I climbed into the lead pedicab and our friends hopped into theirs.  Neither of our drivers spoke much English.  Our lead driver would come to a special attraction and yell out the name and keep pedaling on.  Some times other pedicabs or those ‘pickup truck style’ bicycles would swerve in front of us and our driver would have to put the breaks on.  At a couple of spots, our driver had to get down and walk the bicycle up a steep incline.
            We came to a very rough part of the road and our driver motioned for us to get down.  The four of us with the second driver took off on foot to explore some of the hutong.  This driver took us to various shops.  None of us really wanted to shop but there was little we could do.  After some more wandering through the maze of streets, we got back to where the two pedicabs were.  Off we took again only to have the chain break on our pedicab.  This required another stop and even more time to ‘fix’ the chain.
            When we came near the exit of the hutong , our driver head off in another direction!  All of us were getting a little worried and happy when they stopped about hundred yards down this narrow alley.  We all realized what they were up to after we got out of the pedicab.  THEY wanted more money because it had taken more than hour.  We said ‘NO’ because they had wasted some of our time.  They followed us down the alley yelling at us.  I turned around and gave them each some more money.  I don’t think I should of but I did.
          Our taxi ride back to near our hotel went fast as we all laughed about our experience and were very thankful that there were four of us not just two.  The taxi dropped us off at Silk Alley which is not an alley but rather a big building full of shops.  Dr. Novak and I need to get some gifts for our grandchildren and children.  This was another one of those experiences that was both good and bad. 
          As you walk down the corridor between the shops, employees try to lure you into their store by calling to you and some even try to grab your sleeve.  Once in the shop, the price for everything has to be negotiated.  The employees start with a high price that you should never take.  You then go back with a price that is lower than what you think it should be.  After much time handing back and forth a calculator with your or their price on it, you finally decide to either buy it or walk away.  Even when you walk away, they still follow you shouting sometimes an even lower price.  This all takes a great deal of time but some people think it is great fun.  Dr. Novak and I didn’t and we were very tired when we walked back to our hotel. 
            Our flight home was long BUT we got to Chicago an hour before we left Beijing.  Yes, I was time traveling again.  Do you remember when I mentioned I rubbed the turtle’s nose for good luck at the Ming Tombs and Dr. Novak didn’t?  Poor Dr. Novak did NOT have good luck.  The airline lost his suitcase and they still haven’t found it.  Thankfully, all the present we bought were in my suitcase. 
             I am very glad we went to China.  It is a fabulous country and a great experience.  Dr. Novak and I have talked about our trip a great deal.  We both agree that we would go back to China sometime in the future but not really soon. 

According to the poll results, the name Alden won.  Dino Alden will be visiting schools having his photo taken with students that have produced outstanding China scrapbooks.  These pictures and scrapbooks will be published on my website http://www.nashua.edu/novakc/ in the next two weeks.  Yours, Mrs. Novak

Tuesday morning, Dr. Novak and I were up early once again to board the tour bus.  Surprisingly, my legs did not complain as I folded them up to fit into the tiny amount of space in front of my window seat.  All the climbing up and down on the Great Wall had left no stiffness or pain.  The bus slowly crawled down the exit ramp from the hotel into of the Beijing rush hour traffic. 
            Our tour guide informed us that we were heading to the Summer Palace first and then after lunch, we would go to the Forbidden City.  The drive to the Summer Palace was not long in distance (only about 10 miles) but took about 45 minutes.  I was delighted that we went past the Beijing National Stadium which will be the site of the opening/closing ceremonies and main track and field stadium for the 2008 Olympics.  It looks like a gigantic metal bird’s nest!  Both Dr. Novak and I tried to get pictures but they all came out fuzzy because of the moving bus and window glass. 
            The Summer Palace is where the imperial court went to escape the summer heat of Forbidden City since the 18th century.  Our tour guide explained that there are three kinds of gardens in China.  They are public gardens, private gardens and royal gardens.  The Summer Palace is a royal garden and is very different in design to the private Yu Garden that we saw in Shanghai.  It is much bigger and grander in design.  Saying it is ‘grand’ just might be an understatement considering these facts.  One emperor order 100,000 men to dig up the Kunming Lake and shape it like the West Lake in Hangzhou.  The Summer Palace has the longest painted corridor in the world being 2,277ft long.  There is a huge Marble Boat that the Empress Dowager Cixi ordered to be built.  Yes, the gardens were beautiful but I enjoyed the Yu Garden in Shanghai much more.  I think the best part of this visit was we got to go for a ride in a dragon boat across the lake.  THAT was fun. 
            After lunch we were off to Tiananmen Square.  It is a HUGE concrete covered square outside the Gate of Heavenly Peace that is the entrance to the Forbidden City.  The square was built in 1950’s.  On one side is the Great Hall of the People which includes a football sized banquet hall.  Directly across from the Great Hall are the museums of Chinese History and Revolution.  In the center of the square is the giant stone Monument to the People’s Heroes that was built to honor all the people that died in revolution.  Behind the monument is the Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall.  This is where you can go and see the body of Chairman Mao which is raised during the day from the freezer below.  All of these details were told to us by our tour guide since we didn't not have time to visit these places.
            Over the Gate of Heavenly Peace hangs a huge portrait of Chairman Mao.  From just about any place in the square, you can see Chairman Mao’s portrait.  Chairman Mao stares out directly at the flag of China that is guarded by special green uniformed soldiers.  Four soldiers stand straight as arrows and perfectly still at attention around the flag.  One soldier walks back and forth.  The guard is changed regularly because it is very hard work to stand still in all kinds of weather.  When we were in the Forbidden City, we saw the relief guards marching out.  The flag is raised and lowered at sunrise and sunset. 
            To get to the Forbidden City you have to take an underground tunnel to the other side of the very busy road and enter through the Gate of Heavenly Peace.  The complex of the Forbidden City is huge covering almost two hundred acres.  It is very overwhelming as you walk through a series of four gates to finally arrive at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.  Much to my disappointment, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is undergoing a major restoration project.  The hall is shrouded in green mesh material that you can barely see the outline of the hall through.  The sound of construction work echoes through the courtyard that has 16 layers of stone beneath the stone pavers you walk on.  All of these layers of stone were to prevent possible assassins from digging into the Forbidden City. 
            Our tour wound through the inner buildings of the complex with the names of each building told to us by our guide.  It was hard to keep your mind on the names of each new building, take pictures and enjoy the experience of walking where emperors of China strolled for nearly 600 hundred years.  Before leaving for China, I had watched the movie “The Last Emperor”.  All I could think of was poor Pu Yi (the last emperor of China) and what it must have been like for a child of three in this overpowering, confusing maze of a palace.  I know that this would be a scary place to get lost in. 
            After looking at the royal bedrooms, we came out to the Imperial Garden near the northern end of the Forbidden City.  It was a good place to rest both our bodies and minds.  Some of the tall cypress trees are centuries old and one dead tree with a gnarled and bumpy trunk still stands tall.  The pathways are made of small colored stones arranged in different patterns of animals and plants.  Some of the stones are so worn it is hard to make out what they represent. Colorful koi fish swim in the ponds.  Oddly shaped rocks are displayed with numerous surrounding the charming Pavilion of a Thousand Autumns with its cone shaped roof that looks like a hat above the lower many peaked roof.  This was my favorite spot in the Forbidden City.  More about our last day in China in another post.  Yours, Mrs. Novak

With sleepy eyes, Dr. Novak and I climbed aboard our Beijing tour bus.  The bus had very cramped seating and my knees were very bent into the seat in front of us.  I had not slept well the night before.  More people in our tour group had got sick since leaving the cruise boat.  This was a different kind of sickness being serious colds with much coughing going on.  Both Dr. Novak and I had allergy problems from what I think was all the pollution in the air at both Xian and now Beijing.  The skies at both places are shade of foggy tan.  The cars and buses were covered with a redish dust.
      As we drove out of the city, the beautiful blue sky tried peaking through all the foggy smog.  By the time we arrived at Badaling section of the Great Wall, both Dr. Novak and I were feeling much better.  My allergy pills had worked wonders on both of us.  We were ready or so we thought to attack the Great Wall!
      After exiting the tour bus, we went up to the central portion of the Great Wall.  WE all stopped and had a group photograph and our tour guide told us we could go up either side.  One side is called the 'Easy Way' which is very crowded and has many steps.  The 'Hard Way' does not have as many steps, is less crowded but has VERY steep ramps of stone.  We deicided to go up the Hard Way. 
       At first the walk was not bad up the well worn walkways with steel pipe hand rails up to the first two towers.  We felt very good about this and decided to reach the top tower which is the highest of the area.  WHAT fools we were!  The steep stone ramps got steeper and steeper and I had to drag myself up using the steel pipe rails.  Then we had a series of stone step with each of a different height.  These stairs were not like climbing stairs but rather a stone ladder. We were forced to stop several time to catch our breath and I soon decided NOT to look back down since it ws scary.  We climbed and climbed and climbed and finally made our goal. 
      Our tour guide had given us two hours and half hours and I thought that  he had given us too much time.  Boy, was I wrong!  While the climb up was hard, the climb back down was worse since the steps were more slippery going down. The steep stone ramps and gravity wanted your body to go VERY fast down.  My right hand got very tired grabbing the metal rail to stop my feet from just sliding down.  I was very glad when we reached the two stone towers and the flatter section of the Great Wall.  BUT I felt very elated that I had CLIMBED a small section of the Great Wall.  One huge life long goal acheived and best of all, I didn't fall down.
       At the bottom of the Great Wall, Dr. Novak, another couple and I stopped into a tea shop and had cup of Chinese green tea.  We were all revivied and ready to board the bus again for the Ming Tombs.
       While we didn't actually visit the Ming Tombs, we walked the pathway to the Ming Tombs.  Huge statues of soldiers, horses, camels and other mythical Chinese beasts guard the pathway.  The details of the carving of these ancient beast and soldiers was inspiring.  I can only imagine how Chinese forefathers felt when the walked between these mythical beasts for the first time.  I know how Dr. Novak and I felt when we each choose a statue to stop by.  I choose the two horses with one standing and one laying down.  I think you all know how much I love horses.  Dr. Novak choose the elephants. I guess this shows what a strong man Dr. Novak has been during this whole trip.
       The sun was low in the foggy sky and everything had a golden hue.  It was a rather magical moment when all the crowds of people are forgotten and you see things as others before you might have seen it.  It was hard to leave the Ming Tombs and I patted the giant turtle's nose for good luck in the entrance gate.  I knew I needed good luck to finish this trip. Dr. Novak did not pat the turtle's nose which I think was a small mistake which will be revealed later.
       I fell asleep on the bus on the way back.  Dr. Novak gently nudged me awake as the bus drove up the ramp to the hotel.  I think my mind was still back on the Great Wall or Ming Tombs or perhaps the terracotta army trying to process all the greatness of Chinese civilization that we had seen in so few hours.  It was hard to return to the reality of eating dinner and preparing myself for yet another tour packed day.  More later with many more phtos coming. Yours, Mrs. Novak