Day Two in China and the Largest Square in the World!

Day two started off with a visit to Tiananmen Square, the largest square in the world and the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City. This is the home of 24 emperors with a total space of 9,999 rooms.  Wear your tennis shoes because the walk is a good one!  Sightseeing also includes visits to the Pearl Market, the Summer Palace, Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill. Seventeen-Arch Bridge and Marble Boat.  I'll include extra pictures today with visiting so many locations, but I also mentioned I would talk about the food. 

I love Chinese food, so I enjoyed it all, but some didn't.  In fact one man brought Cheerios with him and ate them almost every meal! Ha! If you like stir fry, rice, chicken, beef, vegetables and  not all the sweet and sour sauces all the time you will be fine.  We did have some sauces of this type, but most were more brown or garlic, light sauces.  Most all meals are served family style with chop sticks, but forks can be requested.  Napkins are rare, but sometimes.  Beer is served with every meal, tea, and water too.  Sometimes soda is served as well to drink.  Breakfast is the largest meal of the day generally with all the trimmings.  From pancakes to eggs and bacon, and several other cultures are generally offered as well.  Every juice you can think of and fruit you have no idea what it is along with all our traditional choices. The coffee in China is interesting, so Starbucks was a welcome site, but pricey.  Probably the most expensive thing I purchased in comparison to other US prices. If you have a sweet tooth bring your own chocolate because you didn't see much and what desserts we purchased just are not the same as what we are accustomed to having in the states.  They look beautiful, but just don't taste as we would expect.  
Come hear more about the trip on December 9, 2013 at the South Windsor Chamber of Commerce, 22 Morgan Farms Drive, South Windsor at 5:30pm and see if you would like to join us next April 3-11 for the trip of a life time in China!  Round trip airfare, transportation to and from JFK, 4 & 5 star hotels, attractions, meals, guides, all for $2399* for members!  Thanks for reading my blog and Happy Thanksgiving! I'll pick up next week with day three!  Shari