Beijing- the morning.

We went to Beijing this weekend, to see some friends and do some sight seeing.  Beijing was the first place we went in China when we came three years ago.  I was tired and overwhelmed on that trip and afraid of getting lost in a place where I didn't speak or read the language at all.   It was hot and humid and we had a tired 13 year old on her first overseas trip.
So I was curious to see what Beijing felt like now that I can speak, read and write some Chinese.  Elisabeth is still on her service trip in Yunnan so it was just Paul and I.
We left on the 8:00 fast train from Shenyang to Beijing.  We got on a city bus around 6:30 AM to get to the train station.  It was packed with people going to school and work.  That kind of work ethic is why China's economy is booming!

We arrived in Beijing  and got some lunch.  Then we went to our friend's house.  They have lived and worked in Beijing for several years and have so many good relationships with the people that they work with.  They have good insight and observations about China and Chinese people.  They are very stellar people.
For dinner we walked over to a mall near their apartment and saw this.

It was a restaurant  named "Kaka" with all the servers in devil horns.  However, we resisted the devils and they fled from us.  We ate at another place.

In the morning, we took the subway down to Tienanmen Square.  As you can see from the picture, it was a low air quality day.  We have all ready been to the Forbidden City but the last time we were here, Chairman Mao's Mausoleum was closed.  We wanted to see him, so we checked our bags and camera and went through the security line.  There were flowers for sale to put in front of  a statue of him and then you are very quickly herded through the line past his glass encased body.  You can not stop or take a picture.  There were two young guards in the glass room with the body and I hope they get paid a lot of money to stand there!  It took us longer to check our bags and go through security than to actually see the body.  It was an odd experience.

After that we took the subway to the Beijing City Museum.  It was fantastic!  I am a sucker for anything that looks like a diorama or any kind of arts and crafts.  This museum had many!

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I think that whoever made these passed the good housewife test.

Wedding procession

Wedding clothes.

Wedding clothes.

The bride sat in this.

Another procession

Children's Shoes

Lanterns

Diorama of flying a kite.

Parade

Merchants.

On a different floor, there were ancient statues.

Charming painted cups

An incredible painted table top.

This museum was one of the better we have been in and we enjoyed every moment of it.  We also went to the Confucius Temple but I'll post about that tomorrow.