Factory Hopping

June 29, 2019

Forbidden City

We started our day pretty early by heading to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. The square was a big open space surrounded by museums and the Forbidden City. There wasn't much to the square, but the Forbidden City was really pretty. It was crazy crowded which took away from the experience a little, but overall it was a really cool experience. The longer I'm in China, the more I appreciate and like the traditional Chinese architecture style. It's so unique from anything we have in the states. Our tour guide was great and explained a lot about the different parts of the Forbidden City, but the crowds made it a little hard to follow. This was the first time I really felt overwhelmed by the crowds of people. I was expecting China to be more crowded, but this is the only time I really noticed the massive amounts of people.

Silk, Tea, & More

We had a really good lunch (very spicy), and then headed to the silk factory. A lady, Mary, took us on a short tour and explained how silk was made. She showed us some products at the end, but most of us held off for when we go to the silk market.

After the silk factory, we headed to a tea place. We tried five or six different teas. I'm not a huge tea drinker, but I really enjoyed them. I liked the fruit tea and jasmine the best. The fruit one was sour but sweet and had the strongest flavor. The jasmine was more subtly flavored and tasted like an all day kind of tea. I picked up a couple things to give as gifts, but after going to the silk market and seeing their prices, I probably should've held off. The tea I got though comes with a story which I like.

Next we headed to a pearl factory. Another guide walked us through the process of finding pearls and opened a fresh water oyster to show us how many pearls were in one. There were between 20-30 pearls of all different colors in one oyster. She also showed us around the store and how to tell if pearls are real or fake.

Lastly, we did a quick stop by the silk market to feel it out. It had a similar feel to the underground market in Shanghai, but this one was a bit more upscale. It was also air conditioned which I appreciated. We'll definitely head back tomorrow to get some gifts and souvenirs.

Lazy Susan is Part of the Fam

We had a really nice group dinner where they served peking duck. The food was really good, and we talked about likes and dislikes about our trip so far. We were pretty much all in agreement that Shanghai was our favorite city. It was nice we really got to explore it and at the end felt comfortable there. Almost everyone liked the Lazy Susan dinner style. I personally loved it. I think my family needs one at home. Your competitive side comes out when there's a food you like, but it's on the other side.