We started our day at Tiananmen Square. We had to view this from a distance because the Communist Party Peoples elections were taking place and most of the Square was cordoned off with police at about 30 foot intervals telling everyone to move on. We continued on to The Forbidden City which was most impressive. This is the place that was reserved for the Emperor and his family and court. Average citizens were not allowed to even touch the walls much less enter. The Emperor was considered the closest thing to God and heaven. The Emperors Place had three levels of steps ascending to the building itself. Each level represented the order of the universe: land, water, people and then the Imperial building. They have been doing a massive renovation in anticipation of the Olympic Games so we saw it at its best. The colors that the buildings are painted are remarkably bright and each was more spectacular than last as we walked through. My camera doesn't do justice to the colors so I am not sending them here. It was very crowded as it was Sunday but because the area was so large one hardly noticed. The final part of the city was the Imperial Garden where the Emperors many concubines 50+ I believe, were allowed to visit since they were unable to leave the Forbidden City without his permission. I gathered permission was rarely given unless he was taking them to The Summer Palace. The garden was lovely and even included a man made hill which the ladies could climb to try to see their family home though I expect that was unlikely.



A Chinese lunch followed The Forbidden City and then we were taken to a small army of bicycle pulled rickshaws for a tour of a very old part of Beijing where the streets were just wide enough for 2 to pass each other. The homes and businesses were all one story and made of a grey brick with tile roofs. Some had been restored, some were in progress and some were in great need of restoration. This apparently is another push in preparation for the Games. Then it was on to the Summer Palace. My memory for details escapes me a bit here. I believe that the main use of this estate was by the Dowager Empress, the mother of the Emperor. I do know that she had a very long covered walkway built so that she could walk even when it was raining. It was made of wood, raised and the ceiling was painted with scenes in medallions, each one different numbering in the 100's. This walkway followed the banks of a lake that she had dug by the Chinese navy just for her. The navy was so busy with this project that when the Japanese invaded there was no defense offered by the Chinese or so we were told. She also had carved a "dragon" boat out of marble that sat by the shore nearby the boat dock for the floating "dragon" boats that we took back to gate and the bus.



We stopped by a silk factory on the way back to the hotel. This took long enough that we didn't have time to go back to change for dinner but it was fascinating to see how they made silk duvets. The process started with a double cocoon, one that had 2 larvae inside. The cocoon was boiled for 90 minutes then cooled and broken open to empty out the larvae. The silk was then stretched across a 6 inch half oval frame. This they took to a large table, the size depending on the desired size of the duvet. Then 3 women took hold of the silk fibers and pulled it until it reached the edges of the frame and hooked the corners under. This process times 80 made the inside of the least heavy duvet. I tried my hand at stretching and failed. Dinner was at yet another Chinese restaurant with a few variations and then back to the hotel for our last night of luxury.



Our final day started with a visit to the Temple of Heaven where prayers were offered. Here again were the 3 tiered steps but in this case the structure was topped with a gold orb symbolizing Heaven. From there we headed to the airport for our flight to catch up with the ship in Shanghai. One note at the airport is that they were days away from opening their new passenger terminal. We could see the three buildings as we taxied down the run way and they were quite impressive. I thought they appeared to be in the shape of a bird's wing span but Charlie disagreed. I am sure they will be showing photos in the US news when it is opened. I had the feeling that Spring had arrived while we were in Beijing. When we first arrived the willows were pale yellow. When we left they were green as were several other varieties of trees and the flowering bushes like forsythia and magnolias were beginning to bloom. I would like to return in 10 years or so to discover how the city has changed.



Back on board we resumed the shipboard routine and left for Osaka, Japan where we awoke the next morning. Unfortunately the weather was most unpleasant as we left for out tour to Kyoto. The bus drive was 1 � hours with not a lot to see because the freeway had walls on each side to keep the traffic noise away from the citizenry Kyoto was spared bombing during WW2 because of it's historical importance so it was much different than Beijing, Shanghais, and Osaka. There were no skyscrapers and the sights we visited were meticulously kept. The first jaw dropper was The Golden Palace. This was built by a Shogun on the side of a lake in an exquisite garden No one is allowed in side except foreign dignitaries. It was most recently re-gilded with 22 carat gold leaf in the 1980's If I remember correctly at a cost of 7 million dollars. It really was impressive even in the rain.



From there we went to lunch at a hotel. This was not a high spot of the day as we were served spaghetti with chicken and red sauce. It was well prepared but a local meal would have been more appreciated. After lunch we drove to the Shogun's Palace. This was inside a wall and the landscape was again beautiful. The Palace itself had exquisite paintings with lots of gold. Some of these were still the original but some of the originals had been copied so that the real deal could be taken to a museum. The difference was slight. The floors were also a great attraction. They were made of wide planks of cypress and installed in a way that they squeaked when walked on. This was done intentionally so that no one could sneak up on the Shogun. They were called the nightingale floors because of the sound. They were constructed with iron straps that were nailed on the joists in such a way that the weight of a person walking over the floor caused the strap to be deflected against the nails creating the sound. Very ingenious.



The next stop was a local craft center. As with everything in Japan the prices were very high in most cases. I did spend some time trying to sort out prices of some small bags that had lovely Japanese designs but When Charlie made an announcement over the loudspeaker I realized I was 15 minutes overdue for the bus. I had to abandon the bags and face the other bus passengers who had been waiting for me. I was embarrassed and had nothing to show for my time.



On our first night back on board we encountered a storm that spawned off the coast of Japan. I slept through the storm which had winds of 80 knots and waves that were 8-10 feet. The next day was quite rough too and I succumbed to a mild case of mal de mer. I was totally surprised since it was the first time I remember feeling that way since a memorable sail down the Sakonnet River after having chocolate cookies and beer during the morning. That was about 40 years ago.



We are now 2 days from Hawaii The weather has turned sunny and warm and we are having a second Saturday, 22 March because we crossed the international date line during the night. This means we won't have to think about what day it is when we reach Oahu and figuring out the time difference is finally manageable. The only, albeit minor, problem is that we lose an hour every night. Yesterday we slept until 10:30. Shameful but the only thing I missed was a lecture that I didn't really care about anyway.