Olivia's Corner - Too Much to Write About

Good Grief! We had a Great Day and we did so many wonderful things that it is hard to know where to start. Since it is late here and tomorrow is packed I will list everything that we did and then talk about 1 in detail. I will have to cover the others later. Here is the Itinerary for today:   Woke up before 4AM, still not totally on China Time Walked to Starbucks for Coffee Breakfast in Hotel Buffet Bus Ride to Hutong Neighborhood for Guided tour Tour Drum Tower and see Drum Performance Ride in Bicycle Taxi around Hutong area Tour Chinese family home complex Visit local Chinese day market Return to Hotel Walk to Peking Duck Restaurant for Lunch Nap Walk to Local Theater and see Acrobat Show Dinner in local Chinese Restaurant Blog Sleep Wake-up and Finish Blog   The Drum tower was our first stop today. The tower is very old and has been rebuilt several times due to fires. The long stairwell is very steep and has small steps. The drums are on the 2nd level and we were just in time for the 9:30 show. The demonstration was great and our guide, Nancy, explained that the drums were used to tell what time it is each day. Also, the tower used several other inventions to act as calendars. This told the people when to plant and when to harvest. Then we toured the old (500 years) "Hutong" neighborhood on bicycle taxis since the roads are not large enough for cars. Most people in China still drive a bike. I will give you more details later.     Tomorrow we tour the Great Wall, Tianamin Square and the Forbidden City. Only 2 more days to sister. Goodbye from China and Love, Olivia