A pleasant surprise

Today started out early for us. We both woke up at 4 am and could not go back to sleep. We used that time to Skype with our kids. They enjoyed seeing us, but we were trilled to see them even more so. Technology is truly amazing. I also got the chance to talk with my parents this morning. They reminding me that when they lived overseas in the Philippines, they used a reel-to-reel audio tape recorder to tape one way conversations with their family back in the states. After taping it, they would have to package it up, send it by snail mail and wait weeks for a response. Occasionally, they would be able to use short wave radio, but the conversation would be very limited.

After breakfast we got a pleasant surprise when we attended the orientation for our next phase of the trip. Our guides gave us an update on Sophie complete with pictures. How cute is that smile?

After lunch with our travel group, we headed out to Tiananmen square and the forbidden city. Lots of people all around, but nothing compared to the 1 million people they say it can hold. It also boggles my mind of how much labor went into constructing the emperor’s palace.

After walking what seemed like 2 miles, we boarded the bus and headed to a silk factory. Pretty neat stuff. I had no idea how a silk worm cocoon could be used.

This evening, we took a subway and traveled to a theater to watch a show. Again, on the way over we hit it during rush hour. Never a dual moment. The show was a production based on a boy growing up in a monetary and learning the art of Kung Fu. It had a good display of martial arts and even had the English lip dubs that reminded me of Saturday morning Kung Fu theater when I was a child. For some reason even through half the study was Chinese, the performance was in pre recorded English with the actors mouthing the parts. Some of the actors looked to be only 10 years of age but had phenomenal skills.

So now its back to the hotel and getting ready to pack for our flight to Changsha.