The forbidden city...

The kids woke up at 4am local time.  This wasn't too bad considering...  So we just got an early start and went down to breakfast at 6:30 am.

The hotel has a breakfast buffet with lots of different stations.  This particular one is a made-to-order scrambled eggs or omelet station.  Of course, Gabey enjoyed watching the guy cook.

The kids ate a healthy amount.  Today is Eliana's half-birthday and we usually celebrate half-birthdays in our family with candles on a cupcake.

But since we're in China, candles on a Belgian waffle had to do.  We brought the candles from home but Elvin had to ask the waitress for matches.  We didn't know the Chinese word for matches and the waitress didn't know the word in English.  We had to call the manager over for translation help.

 After breakfast, we went out to walk around.  We bought a SIM card for our cell phone.

 Then we visited a Catholic church close by.  The girls bought a couple trinkets as souvenirs.

After I took the picture above, Eliana pointed out that the flowers in the planters are made out of PLASTIC!  I guess that makes them very low maintenance.

We then checked out a 7-Eleven that was close by.  Unfortunately, they did not carry Slurpees, which the kids adore.  But this doesn't surprise us...generally, Chinese people are not used to drinking cold drinks with ice in it--which is the very definition of a Slurpee.

 They did carry unique flavors of chips though.

 Also also had Jack and Coke pre-mixed in a bottle.  Absolute genius!

Gabey was tired and went down for a nap.  So Elvin, Erica, and the girls headed off to the indoor pool at the hotel.  There is this rule where everyone absolutely has to wear a swimming cap.  If you don't have one, you can buy one on the spot for about $5 a piece.  So there you go...

After Gabey woke up, we met up with our local guide to drop off some laundry.  Here, they do the laundry for you and also fold it up for you--for a price.  Our guide's name is George and he has been very helpful already with all sorts of advice.

Then we had lunch at a restaurant that specializes in bao-zi which are steamed buns with meat or vegetable filling.  The kids loved them.

And then we were off to the Forbidden City...or as the girls know it--the place where Mulan rescued the emperor from the Mongols.

The place is hundreds of years old, but this fact was lost on the kids.  They just enjoyed walking on the middle bridge that the emperor of China used to walk on.

 Here we are posing in front of a bronze lion statue guarding the palace.

We appreciated all the intricate stonework.  There were sections of the city that was actively being renovated and you could tell that in those sections, the carvings and decorations were brighter and cleaner.

This is huge bronze cauldron that used to be used to store water in case there was ever a fire.  Now they sit empty unless rowdy Americans pass by and decide to jump in.  Erica visited China for the first time about 15 years ago and has a similar picture with her siblings inside one of these vats.  Maybe this will become a tradition...

After we exited the palace, we saw that the crowds were all taking picture of the sign above the gate.    Elvin doesn't know what it says or why it's so important but took a picture anyways.

We then hopped onto a taxi to go to McDonalds for some comfort food.  Emily had to run to the restroom and so Elvin ordered and happened to botch things a little bit.  The girls like their cheeseburgers without pickles or onions or any sauce.  So Elvin with his superb Chinese said, among other things, "please no yellow stuff", referring to mustard (or so he thought).  The McDonald's lady taking the order thought Elvin meant no cheese, so Elvin ended up ordering 3 cheeseburgers with no cheese.  The girls were not too happy about that and so Emily went to order more cheeseburgers, this time getting things right.

 We walked back to the hotel and by this time everyone was pretty tired...

The kids put on jammies, brushed their teeth, and they were out by 7 pm.  Hopefully they will get a full night's rest and also be changed over to the new time zone.