Forbidden No More

Here we are at an overlook over the Forbidden city in Beijing. The city was the dwelling of the Emperor and was "forbidden" (hence the name) to people except officials and servants of the emperor. It was an unbelievable complex of rooms, temples, dwellings. We had a beautiful time in Beijing on Saturday as we traveled to a park overlooking the city so that we could see the entire city. Then we went shopping at the "Pearl Market" where they had everything you could ever imagine for sale. There were some genuine (wink, wink) Rolex watches, DVD's, North Face Jackets, etc. The authentic thing that we did have was some freshwater pearls that were at a great price. We bought some pearls to give to the girls when they get older. It was fun. Especially the wild taxi rides through the city. We now are making the transition from tourist to parents as we left on a plane to go to Chongqing on Saturday night. We arrived at the Marriot hotel which is a 5 star hotel in the city. Chongqing is a vast and beautiful city, situated on the river. It is classified as the world's largest city, at 30 million people. We learned another fun fact as the city's name can be translated as "Double Happiness", as the emperor in the 12th century named it such as he was celebrating two acts of happiness that was bestowed upon him. Of course, we know the real reason, as Lily and Kate are our Double Happiness. We know that they will be traveling tomorrow for 9 hours on a bus before we get them. Pray for their safety as they travel and that their transition will be smooth. Have a good night (or evening).