Yesterday, after a rickshaw ride through a traditional Chinese village, we visited a family that had been named by China the Olympic Family during the Beijing Olympics in 2008. An Olympic Family is one who has deep family history in the country and as Maggie put it “specializes in a handicraft”. This woman we met lived in a small one floored house with a kitchen, living room, and bedroom. The history of her family is that her grandparents worked for the last emperor before the cultural revolution and when the revolution occured they where forced and of their home. The one they ended up living in is the one we visited and it is one hundred years old.
The woman’s specialty is painting intricate pictures on the inside of small glass globes and bottles. Her niece, who was taught the craft when she was very young, is extremely famous and was brought in to teach the athletes at the Olympics her techniques. She is pictured here working on another piece of art.
We then visited the Summer Palace as our last stop in Beijing. The Summer Palace was another building for the emperor’s family to reside in. It was actually built for the Dragon Lady who felt the Forbidden City was not big enough for her. I was unable to take pictures as pickpockets are prevalent in that area and I did not want to risk losing the phone I am currently using.
After walking around the the palace we took a dragon boat across a man made lake where we had a perfect view of the bridge with seventeen arches which makes for a breath taking view, even through the massive amounts of smog that are present here in China. We are currently getting adjusted in our hotel room in Xi’an after our twelve hour overnight train ride. We just attended a welcome ceremony set during the Tang Dynasty of which I will post photos later.
Also, I wanted to take this time to thank everyone who has either read my posts or commented on them. I really appreciate all the wonderful feedback and I hope you continue to read and enjoy my blog!
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