When Life Hands you Instant Milk Tea...
I greeted the next day with a cup of instant milk tea. Um, so that was different. If any of you know me, and my wonderful husband, you know that this was the true sacrifice of the trip! I would drink instant hot beverages for days and every time, I would give thanks for my sweet husband at home who brings me an Americano from his home-roasted beans every morning.
We started the day by strolling over to a local bakery that literally had the most delicious breads for breakfast. It also had a beautiful wedding cake that had a poem written on it. The poem read, "Then the cold came, the dark days when, fear crept into my heart..." I was told that the letters themselves looked beautiful to the locals. Hmmm…
Our first stop was The Temple of Heaven and joy of all joys I got to try my first squatty potty. For some reason when coming to China, I thought that squatty potties were found in some places but not all. Um…no. Squatty potties are found everywhere except my hotel room and super fancy malls!
In case you go to China, be prepared. Squatting practice prior to your arrival may be warranted. Our sweet friend gave us a squatty potty lesson before our first time which I am quite thankful for. I’m thinking by the end of the trip, I was almost an expert. I could hold tissues over my nose and make sure that all my belongings were secured from falling down the hole that went all the way to America. Btw, toilet paper is supplied almost nowhere in the country so bring your own. Said toilet paper that you have carried around with you all day can not be disposed of down the hole of nothingness. It must be disposed of in a trash can. Oh and bring hand sanitizer along too because soap and paper towels are not included either. I think you're ready for a trip to China now.
The Temple of Heaven was a beautiful location and I was surprised to learn that it was dedicated to the god, Shangdi. He was the only god that was above other gods and the only god that the emperor had to bow before. All other gods had to bow to the emperor. He also required a pure blood sacrifice. This is where the emperor would pray for good harvests. I thought about good harvests a lot during our visit.
A few other highlights from the day:
I bought a suitcase after the sales lady threw it across the room to show me how durable it was. If that didn’t sell it, she also balanced on the handle while I held it about a foot above the ground to show me how strong the handle was.
Almost everywhere we entered that day required that we present our passport. If you were a Chinese national, you would present your Chinese id card. You could not just simply enter a tourist attraction, even if it were free without a form of identification. It made me reflect on our freedoms and ponder why the extra measures were taken.
KFC in China is expensive, different, and well loved by the locals.
We went to a “food street” to eat dinner in which I was smushed between many people while dragging my just purchased suitcase. At the end I tried a crazy spicy something on a stick. Not a problem until I rubbed my eyes later and I had to have my eyes washed out over the bushes. Although I was not fully immersed, I feel like I was sufficiently “cleansed” by the bottle of water poured over my face.
Let's just say by our last stop, my feet were almost verbally protesting against the abuse I was giving them. We got to the subway station that would take us to the hotel and we plopped down on the floor. Not so weird in America, but super weird in China. We were sitting behind a pillar so we weren’t fully visible. It was more than entertaining to watch a local walk around the pillar, see that we were blocking the way by sitting on the subway floor, put their hand to their mouth to stifle the giggle at the funny Americans, and turn around to walk the other way. We had lost all sense of trying to respectfully fit in and that hard hotel bed was calling my name.