Beijing, China - 2nd Day (continued)

As a break from the crowds, our guide took us to a hutong for a rickshaw ride. Unique to China, a hutong is a microcosm within a large city that offers a haven from the surrounding bustle.The typical hutong is a narrow lane that links two courtyards, but is often an entire district of adjoining hutongs.I’m not sure the man that pedaled our rickshaw appreciated that we were two huge Americans instead of two petite Chinese.

Next up was our Peking duck experience that had been canceled yesterday.The duck was nothing special but I’m sure it was because we were part of a large group.Jeff and I are getting tired of Chinese lunches and their lazy Susan serving style.It’s too much competition for the food.

We climbed back on the bus to go see the Summer Palace which housed the imperial court during the summer months.It was a 45 minute drive, so most of us dozed off.Once at the Palace, incredible sights awaited.Because so much was packed into this day, we had a very limited amount of time to visit.Jeff and I left the group and high tailed it around the huge lake to try to get into the palace.By the time we made it through the throngs of visitors, we only reached the bottom of the palace structure and didn’t have enough time to climb the numerous stairs to the top.Oh well, next visit.The grounds are stunning and not to be missed.

We drove by the Bird’s Nest and other Olympic structures built for the 2008 Summer Olympics on our way to dinner.Our group voted that they wanted to have a short stop at a MacDonald’s instead of a full dinner and head back a little early to the ship.I couldn’t blame them since it had been a long day and they still faced a three hour drive.

Jeff and I left the group at MacDonald’s and were picked up by a car and driver and guide to escort us to the Beijing train station for our overnight trip to Xian.Thank goodness there was a guide as the station was the largest structure we had ever experienced.He sheparded us through security, found our gate, and explained how to read the signs before he left.We had purchased tickets for an individual compartment with two bunk beds and a separate toilet and sink.This ticket also entitled us to a priority seating area with comfortable seats.Our train information came up on the big screen and we boarded with no issues.Well, except for the Chinese gentleman that we found in our compartment who insisted we were reading our tickets incorrectly.Luckily our guide had introduced us to another English-speaking guide that was taking the train with some clients.The guide was able to straighten the mess out and the Chinese gentleman realized his mistake and moved one compartment over.Our train departed on time and we settled in for the twelve hour trip.