We got up at 7, dressed, and went acorss the street from the St Regis to Starbucks for a real cup of coffee. Chinese coffee just isn't the same. It was just like the US and the prices were the same. The Starbucks is next to a Subway so I took a picture of this with its Chinese name on the front for Gina in Ft Lauderdale who is in my water aerobics class and lives with Fred who owns Subway. Went we went into the Starbucks, a woman was cleaning the windows out front - she was the one who came in and took our order. The coffee was just like the US. We met our group at 8:30 - many wanted info on the duck restaurant where they will go tonight. We then all loaded on the bus to go to see the pandas at the Beijing Zoo.
Jennifer told us about the pandas - there are over 5,000 left in the world. We saw 3 giant pandas each in a separate area. All of them were eating on bamboo - that Jennifer told us is just a snack as they are meat eaters and love pork. We took pictures and then I bought a small stuffed panda bear eating bamboo for my granddaughters.
After a short time at the zoo, we headed to The Summer Palace where the Dragon Lady lived in the late 1800's. They built a huge lake by hand 300 years ago. There waas a covered walkway almost 1/2 mile long so the emperor/empress wouldn't get wet while looking at the lake. There was a huge Buddhist temple on the hill and many other temples. They also had a stone boat made of marble (I think) - it doesn't float but is permanently docked there. We saw where Dragon Lady lived. Dragon Lady thought of herself as a beauty but everyone feared her. She bound her feet at a young age to keep them small as Chinese men thought this was a beautiful trait in a woman. So her feet were only 3"long. She had trouble walking because of this, but she was usually carried by 36 men - 9 was a lucky number so 9 times 4 equals 36. We walked the entire walkway around the lake and stopped for a little shipping. I got an ice cream that was delicious and a shuttlecock game that David showed us - it was 5 yuan or ~.$.75.
Then we had a private Dragon Boat ride across the lake from one side to the other - one way. We saw many beautiful bridges including the Marco Polo Bridge. We then left The Summer Palace by bus and drove to the HuTong District where 2/3 of the people in Beijing live. We went to Nuage for lunch - a chic Vietnamese restaurant on The Grand Canal which flows from The Yangtze River. There were beautiful streets living the canal where people come to stroll or do Tai Chi.
The lunch was family style again eaten with chop sticks. We had about 10 courses this time. The curry chicken and beef dishes were the best. AFter lunch we got into 2 people bicycle rick-shaws. Gui Dafeng was our driver. We drove deep into Hutong to a private home owned by Mr and Mrs Wu. She had the greatest smile. Three generations live in the house - Mr and Mrs Wu, their 2 grown sons with their wives and 1 granddaughter. Mr Wu was an archiologist and was sent to the farms during the Cultural Revolution. They admitted that this was a huge mistake for Mao Tse Tung to do this, but they learned from it. They explained their life in the HuTong.
Gui, our driver, then met us and we had a bike race back to the bus. Tim and I, driven by Gui were Number 1. (Did you have any doubts?).
We loaded back on the bus and were driven back to the hotel by 3:15. At 3:30 David had rented a pingo pong table in the fitness center and he played ping pong with us for an hour. He was very good. In the championship game, Greece (Paul) lost to China (David). A fun time was had by all. Tim worked out in the gym during this time.
At 5:30 Tim and I had drinks in the Executive Lounge. We talked to Sally and Jack untila little past 7 and had a great time. We went down to get a taxi at 7:30 to take us to Brasserie Flo - a French restaurant recommended by the concierge for a special birthday dinner for me (one day early!). The ride there was uneventful and we got there about 7:45. The restaurant was on the second floor and they seated us on the terrace for dinner. Ot was a beautiful moonlit night was a 3/4 moon in the sky and there were few tables occupied. They greeted us with "Bon Soir, Monsieur" - it was all very French and wonderful.
Tim selected wine (French St Emilion Grand Cru of course) and then we ordered dinner. I had a delicious Soupe Poisson (fish soup) done only as the French can do. Tim had a duck terrine. For entree, I had a very French entrecote (steak) done perfectly and Tim had duck confit (will he ever get enough duck?). But that is his favorite.
The ownder - a cute Frenchman from Dijon came over and we talked. Tim ordered a Grand Marnier crepe flambe for dessert and I ordered the Flo Special dessert that was bites of 4 different desserts on the menu. The owner did the flambe himself on the terrace next to our table. Both were devine.
I asked the hostess to get us a taxi back to the hotel and explain to the driver where we wanted to go from the hotel card I carried. (These are essential in China). She went downstairs with us and talked to a guard who went in the street and got us a taxi. The hostess showed the taxi driver the address for the hotel and he nodded that he knew where this was. We took off a much different way than we had come to the restaurant and went through a night club district. After a while, we realized the driver had no idea where we were supposed to be going. He stopped at a specific corner and a young boy bhrew a bunch of "pretty girl"cards into our laps. Then the pimp came to the cab and wanted to talk. We weren't sure what to do so Tim called the hotel (thank goodness he had his phone tonight!). The hotel concierge talked to the taxi driver and we took off again in a different direction. All the while the meter is running but then we realize our driver still doesn't know where to go! He ends up pulling upbehind a different taxi and goes to talk to the other driver - meter is still running! I asked Tim to call the hotel again and once again the hotel told the taxi driver how to get us back to the St Regis.
This time the hotel talked to the new driver. The new driver paointed to the destination on our card which was the restaurant where we had just eaten and I shook my head NO - and pointed to the hotel address in Chinese. We then got out of the first taxi (meter at 28 yuan) and into a new taxi (meter started over at 10) and started again to the hotel. Shortly thereafter, we pulled into the parking lot of the Sizzler (yes the Sizzler) next door to the St Regis - we were back! We got out and paid the driver the 12 yuan fare and walked to the hotel. Whew! The Chinese must teach the taxi drivers how to get tourists where they want to go without this hassle before the 2008 Olympics.
We retired early after another exciting day. We have to get up at 6:30 tomorrow for our last day in Beijing, our last day in China, and our last day on this tour. But my tour with R Crusoe continues on to India on Wednesday. Such a fabulous trip.
Larry
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