March 12th, 2024 Day 14 of 24, Tianjin, (Beijing) China

This morning we awoke in Beijing, China. We are not on a ship and there was no movement in our cabin last night. We awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the downtown area over the CITIC tower. It is the tallest building in Beijing and the ninth tallest building in the world. The tower has the nickname China Zun, zun, is an ancient Chinese wine vessel which inspired the building design We dressed and packed up our few belongs we brought along and headed to the lobby for a humongous breakfast buffet. We weren’t hungry still from our dinner last night but enjoyed looking at all the local favorites served. They had a section dedicated to our “western” food and so much fresh fruit and pastries. Megan and I settled for a couple of soft boiled eggs and some fresh fruit. We had a little extra time before bus loading time so we ventured out into the streets to snap photos in front of the Aston Martin, Maserati and Ferrari dealerships that were technically in the same building as the Regent hotel. If you know, you know. Then it was onto the bus for a short drive to Tiananmen Square. We started on what was to be a 5 hour walking tour. We hadn’t quite expected it to be that long and were mildly unprepared. Big thanks to Cruise Specialist escort Keith for saving the day with a backup charger as I drained my phone camera taking so many pictures today. We walked through and learned about the history of the events leading up to that fateful day in Tiananmen Square. We learned about the ruling parties and leadership in the government from the past and the present. Our guide was absolutely amazing. One of the best guides we have ever had on a tour. He was beyond knowledgable, funny, and went above and beyond to take care of our group. If I ever came back to China I would seek out and hire this guide again. He introduced us to Donkey burgers, a local delicacy and ever went out of his way to purchase them for us while we ate our lunch so we could try them. Another food added to our weird food list. Oh, it tasted liked corned beef and it was served on a flaky pastry crust. It was pretty darn good. After we left Tiananmen Square, we got into the line to await our opportunity to enter the Forbidden City and the Imperial Palace. I had no idea what to expect and it was vast! I heard that it was closed yesterday and that would explain the extremely large lines of people visiting today. I have to say though, once we got through the crowd and lines to get in, the city is so large with so many places to go and visit inside the walls, that a few times we were the only people in an entire courtyard of the city. I know we didn’t see it all, and there is much to further explore on a future trip. What we did see was breathtaking, grand and ornate. Again, we learned so very much about the palace and the forbidden city as at one time it was not allowed to be visited by “commoners” such as ourselves. I have much more to learn about it and trips like this spur my desire to learn more and read about life here and delve deeper into what I learned today. As we exited the city, we took a double decker bus back to an area near where we had started our walking tour and we were greeted by rickshaw drivers who took us through the Hutongs. My first rickshaw ride ever and our driver was quiet, but nice and attentive. These Hutong areas are made up of narrow streets and alleys and date back to the Yuan Dynasty. Many people still live in them today. I could not imagine how they navigate these alleyways without getting lost. I am sure in time you get to know your “neighborhood” but I was grateful to have guides to help us traverse these areas. After we got off the rickshaw we walked through the alleyways and saw food vendors and shops all occupying what we would consider an extremely small space. They were selling their food and wares and were excited to see us walking through. So many photos taken of us again the last couple of days. I learned we are again the first cruise ship in the area since COVID four years ago. So many pictures were taken of us today everywhere we went. Next, we boarded back onto our bus and took a short ride to the restaurant where had lunch the Oianmen Jianguo Hotel. Another wonderful meal of far too much food. All of our group meals this excursion were served what we would consider family style. There was a large lazy susan in the middle of table and the dishes were lined around the outside the circle as we turned it around and around to try all the local delicacies served to us. We were served beer, coke, tea and water at all the meals and last night we were also served wine. By the time we finished lunch it was time to bid goodbye to a few of the members of our group so they could head off to the airport for another overland tour with the amazing Cruise Specialist and a fresh escort, Tom, as he didn’t come on this one with us. We opted for just the one night overland to Beijing this time as we are only on the cruise for 24 days and we didn’t want to spend too many of those days off the ship. I can’t believe our time on the Zuiderdam is over half over already. I am grateful Megan and I will have the few extra days in Singapore, but I am already dreading saying goodbye to our friends and “family” here. We had about a three drive back to the ship after lunch. I know I got a small nap on the way. It was nice to get “home”. When we got back to the ship we unpacked and sent out our laundry. I felt like I overate the last two days so I went to gym for a workout before I got back and showered. Megan took a bubble bath. Currently, I am sitting in the crows nest catching up on all my blog posts for you wonderful people while my travels are still fresh in my mind. We skipped dinner tonight. I am drinking a bunch of water as I am feeling a bit dehydrated and the air quality here seems to be reeking some havoc on our skin. We have our longest stint of sea days ahead of us, three consecutively. We are delayed for some reason leaving here. We are looking forward to time to visit with our friends as much as possible, enjoy our sea day activities, rest and relax. I promise to take some time to count my blessings. May I encourage you to do the same. Ok, now it time to sort through more photos to find the best of the lot to share with you all. Hugs!!