Tiennamen Square and shopping

Today, we were off to Tiennamen Square (the largest public square in the world). First, on the eating front, we are pleased to report that Sophie had a bottle and a half of formula in the morning and the same amount in the afternoon, so it's a small improvement over yesterday (she's still drinking plenty of juice).

It was another hot and muggy day and the sun is finally starting to show (this improves our spirits but raises the temp significantly). The square is indescribably huge but not as crowded as we expected. There were of course lots of tourists and the Chinese love to have their picture taken with "foreigners" particularly those of fair skin and light hair (Stephanie must have posed for over 2 dozen pictures and she was quite gracious about it). We handed out plenty of Canadian flags, keychains and pencils to Chinese children we encountered and they seemed thrilled to receive them. Apparently Canadians are well like largely in part to the legacy of Norman Bethune, a man who is still revered in China (his life history is part of the school curriculum and there is a famous hospital named after him).

Pictured above is a picture of Stephanie and Sophie in the square, Stephanie and daddy in front of the "Maosoleum" (Ha Ha), and Stephanie with a group of Chinese schoolchildren.

After the visit to the square we went shopping at the Pearl Market (four floors of clothing, electronics, handbags, footwear, watches and of course, pearls). We made a few purchases and will likely return before the trip is over.

We got back to the hotel at about 1 pm and took a nap. One of the other families graciously offered to take Stephanie to the acrobatics show, so she went around 4:30, while we stayed in the hotel room with Sophie. While we missed Stephanie it was nice to have some quiet time with Sophie and we played on the bed then we had a nice long bath which she loved. Stephanie returned at 7 and said the show was great. Apparently, she led the group in some songs on the way back, including a happy birthday song for one of the dads whose birthday was today. She was quite the star.

We missed out on our chance to order pizza from Pizza Hut, but Stephanie was invited to have a slice with one of the other families, so Mommy, Daddy and Sophie went to eat in the restaurant in the hotel.

We're now back in bed ready for yet another day of sightseeing (tomorrow we go to the Summer Palace where there is supposed to be a very nice garden and pond/artificial lake). Hopefully, the kids will have a chance to burn off some energy!!

Love, Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie