Exploring Beijing

Two days in Beijing means I have to choose my highest priorities. The Divine worked with me to easily give me everything I most wanted and more. 🙂

Going to the Great Wall is pretty much an all day undertaking, wherever you go to see it. The hostel at which I am staying has its own tour to the Secret Wall. They were right. No other tourists in sight, spectacular vistas of The Wall, and a delicious vegetarian lunch afterwards. What more could I want? The most breath-taking part is in the vistas as The Wall snakes its way over the top of the ridges and disappears into the far distance.

I also had an amazing, unexpected tour through the hutong area of Beijing. The hutong area is Old Beijing, with narrow streets and many of the cities poor living there now. I wanted to visit this area, and didn’t think I would have time. As fate would have it, as I was walking out of the Heavenly Temple area, a man with a bicycle with a two-wheeled cart attached behind asked if I wanted a ride. At first I said, "No." But when he asked he again, I decided to take a chance and see if he could safely take me through the traffic to Tiannamen Square.

As we pulled out into the traffic, I asked him to be careful. He nodded his head "Yes" although I’m not sure he really knew what I said. In reality, I was probably safer with him than walking there on my own. He KNOWS this city!

To get to Tiannamen Square, he took me through the hutong area and showed me all the sights there, including old Chinese characters written on doors and ancient, worn sculptures. He even took me a famous Peking duck restaurant in this area that had photos of international dignitaries who had eaten there, including Al and Tipper Gore!!

The last morning here I walked to the Forbidden City, which is so immense and ornate it is tough "to get my mind around it." The Chinese emperors who lived here during the later dynasties lived a life that is hard to imagine. Just think as opulent as you can and you’ll still be thinking much smaller and less than it is in reality. It was a fun way to spend the morning!

I’m feeling pretty tired about now, and I’m glad to be going home to my husband, Orion and Nichola, and my life in California. I’ve played hard and explored and had experiences beyong my wildest imagination. I am so grateful for the abundance in my life and to have shared this journey with you.