Zao Shang hao - Good morning!

Early start for us today, as we visit the temple of heaven. For breakfast, there was a wide selection of Chinese and English treats. Mrs Edwards and I have had conflakes with warm milk, sweet toast with heart shaped eggs and round green stuff with seeds in the middle. We decided against tofu and seaweed but had watermelon and orange instead. It was delicious. Sun cream on, glasses at the ready....another hot day in Beijing. Zai Jian!

The Temple of Heaven

Wow! Today we visited the famous temple of heaven in the city of Beijing, just a short walk from our hotel. The sights were amazing and we spent a lot of time taking photos! We learnt that the temple was built in 1420 and was where the emperors would come to pray for a good harvest. As we left we walked through a beautiful park where Chinese men played checkers and dominoes on the side of the pavement. We saw a lady doing tai chi who invited us over to join in which was such an amazing experience. We also played Chinese shuttlecocks (like football but with a heavy feather like object!) With a group of older Chinese people under the shade of the trees. They kindly have us a shuttlecock to bring home! We're just off to the train station now to begin our journey to Qingdao! Love to all back home xx

Tomorrow Mrs Edwards and I are visiting the temple of heaven followed by a 5 hour train journey to Qingdao where our link school is! We are very excited to meet everyone...especially now we've learnt how to say 'good morning, pleased to meet you' in Chinese!!

(Pictures to follow when Mrs A gets home!)

Kung fu: tonights kung fu show was a real treat- an amazing display of dancing, acting and martial arts

There was a heartwarming story behind the performance of a young boy who left his family and used kung fu as self defence. Kung fu is not an aggressive tool for fighting but a way to channel you energies to achieve harmony and promote courage and strength of character. The cast were so talented and thoroughly entertained us...especially 5 very young boys who back flipped and somersaulted across the stage with ease?!

New Pictures from today.

Forbidden City

What a cultured afternoon we've had here! With our tour guide Ellis we took a took trip to the Forbidden City, a walled palace build for the Chinese emperors in the 1400's. Along with their servants and families, they lived here in grandeur holding feasts, a variety of political and religious celebrations. We got to see the thrones, the bedrooms and the hall of supreme harmony- a place where the emperors would go to reflect! We saw the imperial gardens with their creatively grown trees before riding back to our hotel on a tuk tuk ...ouch. A very bumpy ride!

Shopping!

So we've been to the peal markets today and looked at plenty of handbags! There are many beautiful items for sale and we are now VERY good at haggling. Off to the forbidden city and Tiananmen square this afternoon with plenty of water and sun cream - its 28 degrees in Beijing today! Love to all at home xx