Day 3 - The CCAA and other stuff

Is it only day 3, you have to be kidding me, with all the stuff we’ve already done it has to be day 5 or 6 already. I guess I have to believe the calendar (sometimes I think it lies, like when it tells me my age) and say welcome to day 3.

Day three starts with a trip to the Beijing Tianhou Silk Co. Ltd., yes, a government run silk factory, but I love them because you learn quite a lot while you’re there. (just don’t buy anything there) We were taught all about the slim worms life cycle, how fast they grow, how they make the silk, and how it’s harvested, really was quite interesting. Walked through the showroom and if I had the money and space I would have walked out with a silk bed spread, the thickest king size was only 860 RMB. Now that only included the bedding, you needed to buy a silk cover for the bedding to slide into, and those were quite a bit more expensive. All we could see were bedding items and I was getting quite amazed that a silk factory would only make up silk bedding. So after about 20 minutes walking through the bedding section we were led through a curtain to another room where all the other silk goods were for sale, such as; robes, shirts, suites, ties, boxers, lingerie, jackets, socks, rugs, and so on and so on. If I were still working in a funeral home and had need of wearing dress shirts every day I would have bought two or three there, they looked and felt fantastic. (I know I said don’t buy anything here, but these shirts were great!)

From the silk factory we all loaded up on the bus and made our way across town to the amazing Temple of Heaven. Even though I’ve been here before I was still impressed by the beauty and size of the temple as well as the grounds surrounding it. Even though it was a Monday (it was Monday wasn’t it) there were a lot of people there, we found out from our guide that the elderly get to pay about 50 RMB for a years pass to all the parks in Beijing. When we entered there were a group of older people dancing and a few quickly came up and asked for dance partners from our group, the children quickly jumped right in and learned a few dance moves from these amazing elders.

It’s only been three years since my last visit to the Temple of Heaven and it has lost absolutely none of its grandeur in that time. The architecture is amazing, the art work fantastic, and the stone carving is so great that I could sit and marvel at it for days and days. The last time I was here the echo wall was under construction but this time dad and I were able to go in and see what we could hear. (get it “echo” wall) There were just far too many people to get the echo wall to work properly so I settled for just having a look and sitting in the shade, cause man it was one hot mug today. Dad stood in line for ten to fifteen minutes for a glimpse inside the small temple inside the echo wall while the rest of the crew decided that a rest in the shade wasn’t such a bad idea. From there we walked through and over the round altar and watched as people took turns standing directly in the middle and apparently praying for something before stepping down for the next person to do the same. Then it was out the exit take a left and walk into the Dai restaurant.

The Dai restaurant was quite possibly the best food I’ve had in China so far, we had a huge spread with rice, pork, beef, vegetables, chicken; some mild some spicy, simply delicious. We all commented how it seemed to be designed kind of like the rainforest café in the Mall of America, there were “trees” holding up the floor above us. (I would say the second floor but our floor was two floors below ground level) Unfortunately with dad and I usually bringing up the rear (not because we’re slow, because we try to be polite) we got the last remaining seats which left us with our backs to the stage. The show was a mixture of dancing, a flute player, and a guy singing. The dancing reminded me a lot of the various dancing acts that perform at the Greek Food Festival in Little Rock, the flute was really good, and the singer seemed a little on the feminine side. (o.k. he was flaming)

After lunch it was off to the CCAA and BLAS, two offices I have never had to chance to visit and was really excited about it. At the CCAA we were able to look into the Archives Management Department and see stacks and stacks of files on the cabinets waiting to be reviewed, (don’t worry I took lots of pictures) I don’t know the different agencies color coding but I was able to make out one “Great Wall” package. I also took a look into the document receiving and sending department where the dossier’s are received and was actually able to get a photo of them signing for a package. (I don’t know for sure what it was, but what kind of packages get sent there)

I probably spent most of my time watching and taking pictures of the matching room, it was really hard not to get emotional standing there knowing that this was where so many perfect matches are made. Especially knowing that my eldest was matched to my wife and I here and they did quite possibly the most perfect match by getting us together. There’s no way words could express the feelings that come over you when you’re standing there knowing what a great jog they did for me and so many others.

After our tour of CCAA we went up a few floors and entered the BLAS offices where the kids were able to learn some calligraphy and history of China. The offices were very nice but all the activities there were geared for the kids so dad and I just sat back and enjoyed watching the kids learn and enjoy their time there.

Since we were running late we didn’t get a chance to go to the pearl market, so our guide has us visit another market that was closer to the CCAA and BLAS building. This market was very similar to the pearl market but not quite the same; it was a little smaller and less competition so I think the deals were not as forthcoming as I received from the pearl market on our last visit to China. We only had 30 to 45 minutes at the market so we made a b-line for the pearl floor because dad and I both had orders for that particular item. The time it took both of us to haggle down to a decent price and for the workers to finish the work made our shopping there limited to the pearls. Oh well, maybe we can take a side trip to the pearl market later.

After dinner it was back to the hotel for some sleep cause tomorrow we fly to Kunming and the most important part of this journey starts.