Vickie Bennett: Day 3

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in Beijing—I think one of the nicest ones I have ever experienced as we were actually able to see blue, sunny skies and upper 50 temperatures.

We only had one thing on the agenda for the morning and that was to visit the Hutong area of Beijing. This is one of the oldest parts of the city, in which the common people lived during the time of the emperor’s ruling. We were told there are only 5% of the homes that are still owned by the ancestors of the original families, and the other 95% has been purchased and then sold by the government.

We had the rare privilege to see, and I was able to capture a picture, of one of these family members who was out taking a leisurely stroll—simply an amazing looking old gentleman!

We toured through the Hutong area on rickshaws, which is a basket peddled by a bicycle rider. Austin said this was his favorite part of the entire trip so far; even better then the Great Wall! It was a beautiful day and with the blanket they gave us to cover our laps, it was perfect weather for the ride.

We were able to tour one of the homes which is currently occupied. You enter through a gate and upon entering there are four buildings, each facing N/S/E/W, with a courtyard in the middle. These are occupied by three generations of families, and the fourth is occupied by their servants, usually a cook and housekeeper. This is very common to have servants in China still to this day, as it is very inexpensive to hire them—usually a full time servant makes about $50-$60/month in US money. So it is very affordable.

While we were in the Hutong area, a local family invited us into their home and we were served what has certainly been our best meal yet while in China. For me, it was typical Chinese food which I am use to eating when we go out with our local friends in China. For the group—it was a first experience for many of them and they all loved it!

After lunch, we finished touring through the Hutong area and then we had to head to the airport for the next leg of our journey. We traveled to Chengdu, China which is where the world’s largest population of Pandas resides. Our flight was uneventful, and we were able to get checked into our hotel and then crashed for the evening.

I hope you are enjoying all of the pictures. If you are like me, while I enjoy reading about people’s trips, I always enjoy the pictures a whole lot more. Oh, and in case you are wondering what the last picture is all about, I have this silly thing that I like to do when I travel to China and that is find signs and take pictures of them that are either in Chinglish (where they have translated the English incorrectly for a sign), or if it is something just totally crazy. Today I found one that is just totally crazy! This was in the bathroom stall at the Bejing airport.

Blessings everyone!! Only 2 more days until we get Abraham!!!

Jim, Vickie and Austin