Beijing

Cross it off the bucket list, I've seen Mao's body.  As many of you know, I'm a Communist at heart so this was a lifelong dream come true.  For those of you that don't know me well, I'm kidding, my true mantra would be closer to 'Pass the tea'; 'Beck for President'; 'Welcome to Obamanation and extreme taxation' or any other catchy, right-wing, gun-lovin', conservative message. 

Mao has been dead for 33 years and his body is encased in a glass casket in Tienanmen Square.  After standing in line for over two hours we were frisked and quickly shuffled passed a large mound of orange wax in a green uniform.  Mao's bones may have been buried somewhere under the fabric and paint but to me it looked like a bad Madame Tussand's replica.  Rich shed a few tears.

From Tienanmen we crossed the street to the Forbidden City.  That was very cool.  We went to Beijing with a tour group so we didn't get to decide how long we stayed a the various sites.  Rich is the perfect candidate for a tour; he follows directions, stays with the group and doesn't mind following a yellow flag around all day.  I, however, did not love the tour setting, especially the geriatric, Chinese tour setting.  Matt and Lily were the only kids and I was the only foreigner; we got lots of attention from all of the little old ladies in our group.  We were also disciplined for unruly behavior such as jumping, running and climbing; all of which are considered extremely dangerous.

Here is a prime example of completely out of control behavior.  Children scaling walls to the height of their extremely tall (5'6") mother. It is a miracle they survived.

Here's Lily at the Temple of the Sun.  She was finally coaxed down from this unstable, solid granite wall by a group of concerned citizens.  Where is that girl's mother?

This is our oppressive tour guide.  He really was nice, we were just on a tight schedule so that flag was always up and moving.  No time for lallygagging or second looks.  Hurry, hurry lots to see! 

I am so easily entertained.  Matt going cross-eyed is hilarious to me.

These two people are not actors or dressed up to give the city a more authentic feel.  These are their everyday, casual , going to market clothes.  Love it!

Nothing special about this picture, I just love this womans classic Chinese style, the more patterns, the better.