October 26th (4th day in China) - After another great breakfast at the hotel our bus driver and our amazing tour guide Shelley took us on a tour of Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square was huge and extremely crowded. Afterwards we headed off to Beihai Park which was just a relaxing place to be. We all enjoyed a walk around the park with a choir singing in the back ground. This park was once the winter residence of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. The Bai Ta (White Dagoba) is a Buddhist shrine built in the Tibetan style in the center on the park. Next we were dropped off at another Market for a late lunch and more bargaining. After about 4 hours of shopping at the market it was time to get back to the hotel, start packing, and have dinner.
I know I have not said much about the outstanding driving skills of our bus driver but he was able to drive or park that bus in places I’d have a hard time parking my car – really! And the driving in Beijing is a whole new level of crazy compared to South Korea because not only are the drivers nuts but the bike rides are out of their minds and everywhere. On our first day, we actually had a bicycle rider that was messing with his cell phone run broadside right into the middle of our bus as we were going into the entrance of the Temple of Heaven! And I can’t leave out our tour guide – Shelley was worth her weight in gold. Not only was her English outstanding and her stories of China and Beijing entertaining, she was just a delightful person with a warm kind personality and a joy to be around.
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