We had a quick breakfast at home and headed out to the hidden city. We went by bus most of the way, which wasn't too bad because it had the bus lane. Ray stayed home to watch a soccer match but Donna, Jack, and Tienzu came with us.
Tienamen Square was huge, highly policed, and exactly what I expected from the pictures I've seen.
At the far end of the square, under the portrait of chairman Mao, was the entrance to the forbidden city. It was where emperors lived for centuries. One had 3,000 wives and concubines. Although I hate to concede inferiority to any other man, I suggested to Andrea that 3,000 might be too many for me.
It was really really hot. 90 degrees and incredibly humid. We ate noodles and eggs rolled into a tortilla like bread at the Palace restaurant for lunch.
Andrea got into an argument with Joshua about Zachary's little toy electric fan. The way that he was speaking to her was unacceptable and I let him know it. He argued and I ended up taking away his cell phone. Much drama ensued. Between the heat and the disagreements it was not the best of days.
For dinner we went to Dayali a restaurant famous for its roast duck. We started with the duck, which we wrapped in little mushoo pancakes, added some vegetable and sauce. I'm not a duck fan but this was good. I didn't think that any of the kids would try the duck but when Zachary and Ari and Zachary saw the relish with which Ray, Bill, Tianzu, and Jack ate the duck they ate it too. We also had Chinese yam with blueberry, Lotus flowers, beef with pepper and onion, spicy green beans, mushroom soup, eggplant, pea sprouts with walnuts, chicken with the sesame and almonds, and Chinese greens.
Years ago, my best friend at the time read one of my travel blogs and commented that I always talked about the food. My reply was that I didn't think I did, but now I realize that I do it intentionally because we spend so much time eating and it is such a big part of the adventure. Dayali was certainly no exception. Donna told us that Ray was really looking forward to taking us there. Initially I was unenthusiastic but it was quite an experience.
We went home and hung out with everyone including Li Feng and Andy. Bill just got his scores for the middle school entrance exam: math 100%, English 99.5%, and Chinese 97.5%. He thinks that will put him in the top 10 in the city. I was certainly impressed. Ray takes his exam tomorrow.
Finally, a few notes on cultural differences: I won't talk about squat toilets or dirty bathrooms, I promise.
We hear a lot about Chinese and Japanese students putting in long hours studying and worrying about high stakes exams. While Bill and Ray are only starting middle school, we already see it with them. They do manage to get time for soccer and video games but they have grueling schedules that include a lot of homework and summer and cram schools. In China the government only pays for school through the end of 8th grade but they will pay for Ray to go to boarding school if he gets in.
Andrea is blown away by the lack of cold beverages at meals. When we went to the university cafeterias and the closest thing they had to a beverage was soup, she was shocked. We sent the kids out to buy bottled beverages and bring them back.
The first day I was going to ball the kids out for getting water all over the bathroom floor when they showered but I held my tongue and just cleaned it up. Then I showered and I did the same thing. It took me a few days to realize that it was not me failing to close the curtain all the way or something; the shower curtain is just not waterproof. I don't think I'd ever see that in America.
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