beijing, china

it was soooo cold! we packed for hot weather and thought we could get by with layering what we had. yeah, that didn't happen. we all ended up buying coats, hats, gloves, under layers and anything else that was warm. thank goodness you can bargain for everything!

we had a 9 hour layover in beijing, china so we took a train to  tiananmen square, the forbidden city, and the beloved silk market. we heard it was going to be cold, but nothing could have prepared us for how cold it truly was! made for some cool pictures though. we walked through the forbidden city and i couldn't believe how big it was! it kept going, and going, and going. since we were in a hurry, we didn't get a guide so i really don't know the history behind it. i do know that tiananmen square is where there was a protest and a student put himself in front of a tank to make a point. there was a lot of history here that i wish i knew more about. i'll have to study up on it on my own with google :) really, we were in a hurry so the boys could spend a few hours in the silk market. this was their highlight of the trip. they talked about it every day. it was my first time in the silk market and i understood why they were excited. i normally hate bargaining, but it was kind of fun. it would be easy to spend hours upon hours there to get some good finds. tanner does business in china so he's gone a few times. maybe next time, he'll take me :)