Yesterday (Saturday) we finished our touring of Beijing by seeing Tienamen Square, The Forbidden City and exploring a traditional Beijing neighborhood (Hutong) on a rickshaw. While in the neighborhood we ate lunch at the home of a Chinese family. The meal was traditional Chinese fare. It was the delicious. The owner of the home once cooked for the fourth Chairman of China. We also went to a traditional Tea House and learned the importance of tea in China. Of course we also had the chance to purchase tea! We concluded the day with seeing an Acrobatic Show in the city- which was a lot of fun.

Beijing is a sprawling city of 20 million people. We stayed near the center of the city. There is a wide variety of structures in the city. It really comes alive at night as the local restaurants begin to fill up around 7:30 pm. There is always a haze from the smog/pollution. Only once in the four days here could we see the sun- let alone blue skies.

This afternoon we will ride a bullet train to Zhengzhou where we will meet Malachi in the morning (Monday, September 15). The last three days have been enjoyable as tourist. Now comes the hard work of being new parents again!