Day 5: Beijing

We started the day at the Daoist Temple. The temple had trees and plants all over the place which was reflective of the Daoist connection with nature.  There were many rooms where people could go to donate to the gods based on what problems they were having.  Some rooms were: "rewarding those who do good""for those with illnesses" and "good harvest".  Visitors could also hang prayers from a wall which reminded me of the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Prayer for mammal birth

Prayer Wall

Daoist Temple with modern Beijing in the background

Hutong is a Mongolian word that means alleyway.  We went on a Hutong tour.  This particular allway had been preserved by the government as historical housing.  Here we took a pedicab to visit a family.  Their house was very tiny compared to what Americans are used to.  The husband and wife were getting ready to take a trip to the United States.  They were planning on visiting New York, Colorado, and Las Vegas.

Pedicabs ready to go

Home in the Hutong.

Our hosts

At the Summer Palace we walked through the longest corridor in the world. We also took a boat ride across a lake. It was gorgeous.

We visited the site of the 2008 summer Olympic Village.  The area was filled with Chinese tourists who come to visit the famous buildings as well.

A musician in the Olympic Village

Bird's Nest

After a dinner of Peking Duck we boarded an overnight train to Taiyuan (capital of the Shanxi Province).  While it was quite an experience, it is not something I would want to do again!

Watermelon was served at the end of every meal.

Lacoste in China

Stores in a mall near the train station

Beijing Train Station. We were rushing which explains the blur.

Our bunk for the night.