A city of 15 million people

BRRR!!! This morning we had enough breakfast choices to feed a small army. We had the usual scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, but also options of pork neck, dim sum and fried rice. Charged and ready to go, we first boarded our bus and headed to the Temple of Heaven. Although the wooden temple was meant to be the highlight, I was most struck by how committed the Chinese are to their morning exercise. By 8 a.m. there were several groups practicing their Tai Chi amongst the snow covered grass of the park…fluid movements even in freezing weather.
There were lessons in differentiating between the qualities of jade and jadeite followed by lunch and shopping. In the market, I eagerly gathered a collection of paper cutouts of Chinese landscapes, flowers and figures….watercolors of blossoming trees and the unofficial national flower, peony. Frame designs for these pieces are already running through my head. Snow melts from the top of our bus and turns to icicles running down the windows as we continue our travel. Looking out, we see everything from sitting camels to neon signs.
The Great Wall. Wow. I don’t know what else to say. I feel lazy. Ten years to build, 70,000 men, 2,200-plus years old. Snow dusted the terraced hills and many of the irregular steps. My hands clung tightly to the heating pads I brought as I climbed from tower to tower. Still. It’s just the sound of the wind whipping across my face and the breathing of determined hikers.
Buffet dinner and an acrobatic show. Dragons, cartwheels and flips, plates spinning on poles. I think some of the performers had to be under the age of 15. They moved like Gumby dolls dressed in sequins.
My $2 lime green Gucci watch from the Temple of Heaven is still ticking. It tells me that it’s just about time for the in- room back and foot massage before bed. I think everyone from my bus, as well as the other four, booked one. I try and figure out the logistics of gathering 100 masseuses for a one-hour time period on a Monday night, and then I remember we are in a city of 15 million people. I am sure the hotel can find a hundred or so…
-- Ali Semon