Beijing Trip: Day 7 & 8

Tea Flower 2 a photo by Klink5 on Flickr.

Sunday afternoon, our group spent more time touring the city. We started our outing at the Temple of Heaven with a wonderful tea ceremony. I have always loved tea, have even been accused of being a bit of a tea snob. The ceremony was conducted by a young lady that taught us how to properly pour and drink our tea. We were given the opportunity to sample six different types of tea, each just as tasty as the other. After the ceremony, I purchased each type of tea and a tea cup to make all my new tea with at home. The picture with this post is of a tea flower. You purchase the tea flower in a little brown ball, then place it in the water and it becomes a beautiful flower. I am saving mine for a rainy day to show my children.

After the tea ceremony, we took some time to do more shopping at the Pearl Market. Bargaining has become second nature to me now and I thoroughly enjoyed the shopping experience. Of course, I spent all my money on my family. It is going to be like Christmas in March for my children and my nieces.

For our evening activities, we visited the Drum Tower Hutong area of Beijing. It is one of the oldest parts of the city. We took a rickshaw ride through the hutong, stopping to view the Bell and Drum Tower. We then stopped to visit a local home owner, who invited us into his house for tea. By far one of the best experiences of the trip! He told us that his family had lived in the same hutong for four generations.

We ended our night with our last standard Chinese dinner. I was thrilled that they chose to serve sweet and sour pork at this dinner. It was nice to be able to eat something more than just rice or noodles. We ended our evening saying good-bye to Vincent. Apart from the conference, Vincent made the trip for us. He was an amazing guide, sharing his personal stories as well as listening to our own stories.