July 26 - Arrive in Beijing

July 25:  Dinner Show / July 26:  Rickshaw Tour of Beijing

July 25:  Xian Dinner Show

After I'd posted photos yesterday we had the Tang Dynasty Dinner Show, and I thought I might mention it in today's posting, but it is SO worthy of more than a mention. What a great evening it was - the dinner was good and the show was superb! We all agreed that this kind of show was worthy of a Broadway kind of ticket, but our cost was about $20 US Dollars - and that included dinner and drinks! We had dinner with four new friends of ours (see photo at right - Wilbert, Mary, Steve, and Jeannie). But the highlight of the evening came just before the start of the show. Yesterday was the birthday of one of the most amazing guests in our group, Sy, who turned 85. He is sharp as a tack, plays tennis several times a week, and is such a great guy. So several of us mentioned this to our guide Iowa about singing him a song. But he said to wait because Viking had something planned for him today. So as we were finishing dinner the lead actress of the show came out and the spotlight hit her and she started singing "Happy Birthday." The spotlight shifted to Sy's table (right behind ours) and they brought out a nice cake with candles and the entire place sang him happy birthday. We all congratulated him and he was so surprised and appreciative. Below is a picture I got of him and one of Kim - note our table number....."43" - her number throughout her sports career. 

Then the show started. And while it was all in Chinese there was a synopsis on a big screen before each act and it wasn't difficult to follow the story which told of how the ONLY Empress of China had risen from a member of the Emporer's concubine to the ruler of the country. But the sets were so very elaborate and the rear-projection special effects were stunning. But most of all the colors of the costumes - just breath-taking. It was a wonderful and very special evening!

July 26:  Arrival in Beijing - "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!"

Today can best be described best as Gomer Pyle used to say, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!" The planned itinerary for today was after breakfast we were to be on the bus around 8:30 am to go to the airport; fly to Beijing and check into our hotel early in the afternoon. That's it. So when we were all on the bus our guide Iowa said he had a surprise for us. Viking was going to take us to the Hutong District of Beijing - which as it turns out is the "Old City" which is still where it has been for thousands of years in the middle of the city.....no new buildings, businesses, etc. are allowed to go up there. And we would take a tour by rickshaw! As part of the tour we were stopping at the historic Bell Tower and Drum Tower where we'd have a Formal Tea Tasting; and as part of the tour in the District we'd stop in and spend some time with a local resident of the area. ALL provided free of charge to us to enrich our experience. Only Viking......The second of the "Gomer Pyle surprises" came when Iowa told us the weather forecast.....while it had been 107 yesterday when we toured the Terra Cotta Warriors, the high today in Beijing was only in the low 70s! OH MY! And the third of the surprises happened at the airport......unlike our previous intra-China flights, we left right on time! WOW! And when we landed they announced the temperature as only 68 degrees. The forecast had called for rain, but when we got here it had already rained so we got the cool weather and no sun, just overcast skies. We met our local guide after about a 45 minture trip from the airport and we arrived at the towers (see

first photo below). In ancient times, because obviously no one had watches, they would ring the bell in the Bell Tower to get everyone up and going - let them know the city gates were opened and businesses should be open. Then at the end of the the drums in the Drum Tower would sound to indicate the day was over and the gates were closing. Interestingly there were twenty-five huge drums in the tower with two drummers on each drum! So we went inside the Bell Tower and were ushered into a tea room where our Chinese guide explained five of the main teas served in China. This was quite an entertaining hour we spent here, and the cause of a great deal of the entertainment turned out to be me! I just happened to be at the end of the table where she was demonstrating and she used me as an example of what the tea could do for you. The first she indicated was good for removing wrinkles, then she turned to me and said, "But it's too late for you." EVERYONE howled and clapped as I raised him arms in a "what's up with that" expression. Then the next tea she indicated was good helping you lose weight; and she turned to me and said, like this be good for you to lose belly.....I had belly like this man until I drink tea and now I'm very thin. Again the uproar. But I got my highlight when she explained another tea was good for improving your looks - "....makes woman very beautiful, and man more handsome than ever...." at this point she turned to me - and Kim captured this moment on film (at right) and she continued by saying, "....but this not necessary for you because you are very, very handsome!" :) Awwww shucks :) We left the Bell Tower and walked through the narrow alleys before we arrived at the home & courtyard of a local gentleman who opened his house to us and talked to us. His great grandfather had worked for the last emporer of China! We were there about a half an hour and then we took a short tour of the area before being picked up by the rickshaws. We were driven around for about fifteen minutes and arrived back at our bus. We were taken to dinner and then to our hotel, The Regent Beijing, another five-star accomdation. By now it was nearly 8 pm and we were done for the day. We're up and on the bus by 6:50 am tomorrow to head to the Great Wall of China!