Day 2 was spent traversing Beijing on foot and with the Subway system (mine and the kids first time on a subway so it was exciting). We woke up to snow and immediately I was thankful we had gone to the Great Wall when we arrived since today was our last day in Beijing. I didn't think the snow would last long, so I took a quick picture of Steve and Alyssa walking in the snow on our way to Starbucks for morning coffee and to figure out where we were going. Little did I know that the snow would last for most of the morning, and that the weather would feel a lot worse when we turned the corner and were almost knocked over by the wind! Our blood is a little thin after having lived in the tropics for a year and a half!
We finally made it to Tiananmen Square after walking and subwaying...we came up near the Forbidden City (the building you are looking at) on the opposite side of the street from the Square. Unfortunately, the less than level sidewalk and melting snow made for very wet conditions. Mine and Alyssa's shoes, socks and pant legs were quickly soaked, causing some very cold toes. We were "accosted" by some "art students" (at least that was their line) and we went and looked at their paintings. They were very nice, but there was a lot of pressure to buy. One of the "students" offered to make Alyssa's and Hayden's names in Chinese characters. We ended up buying 4 small paintings which represent the 4 seasons in China. They are quite nice, and weren't too expensive, but still I think we were duped. Oh well, that's the nature of things in China...always be on your gaurd (I believe it must have been Confucious who said something like "a fool and his money..." ) They were kind though and the lady who wrote the names also gave each of the kids a small print and helped us to find our way across the street to Tiananmen Square.
Me and two "less than happy" children in the square. It was huge, the wind was blustery, Alyssa's feet were cold and Hayden was sleepy...but at least we can say we were there!
Inside the first entrance to the Forbidden City and still the weather is not letting up. For some reason I remember that it was about 11:30 a.m. and we had been out since about 9:00. Hayden is sleeping, Alyssa is still whining about cold toes (can't say I blame her), so, again, we snapped a couple shots to say we'd been there and went in search of lunch and warmth without really seeing anything of the city...I guess there's always next time.
We climbed back on the subway (which the kids LOVED) and headed towards our hotel. We ended up at a super high-end mall with stores like Jimmy Choo and the likes of what else I cannot even afford to remember. We found a little "French" bakery/bistro and went in and ordered some sandwiches. I needed to get Alyssa out of her wet clothes, but being the thoughtless mom that I am, I had only brought extra clothes for Hayden in case he had an accident...I had not even thought to bring dry socks! I've been away from winter far too long. So, we got all the wet clothes on and, fortunately Alyssa and Hayden wear the same size so his pants fit, no problem. The only problem was we had no socks and it was still cold and snowy. Since Hayden had dry shoes, I put Alyssa in the backpack and first we searched the mall for socks (it was at this point that I realized just how "high-end the mall was...100rmb for a pair of kids socks...that's about $16 CDN!). Alas, no affordable candidate was found, so I put my gloves on her feet. It was beginning to warm up by now so it wasn't so bad and being in the backpack, her feet wouldn't touch the ground. Then, we went in search of the Pearl/Silk market...here we found socks for about $1 (which we bought). However, one must note that I was basically called and awful parent by every single Chinese person we passed who noted that Alyssa had barefeet and it was snowing outside. It was very traumatic for me. I could have bought a lot of junk here...I did by Hayden a Helly Hanson down vest for $9...but managed to keep myself under control with the vest and socks for Alyssa and I. It wasn't long til we hit the streets to find our way back to the hotel for warm baths, naps and then an easy dinner. You may have noticed that Steve was slightly transformed in the last photo...not to worry, he became more life-like after a warm shower.
Just to give you a little perspective...a fair amount of snow did fall, but the clouds had been seeded with silver nitrate to increase the amount of moisture ~apparently there is a drought situation here.
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