Left at 9.00 for noon flight. Were at the airport in good time and were queued up when another group whose flight was at 11.00 pushed in the queue in front of us with luggage, much yelling and drama. By the time we were processed we were ready to board - at least no sitting around. Vivian checked us in and escorted us to departures. Said goodbye to Vivian - sad to see her leave us. Arrived and were met by Lucy and driver Zhou (Joe).Were taken to the Houtong rickshaw ride - houtongs are traditional areas now much prized by residents because of the land content of their houses. Most Chinese live in high-rise. We had a local guide Lilly for this tour. The Hutong rickshaw tour was interesting and enjoyable. Lilly explained how once you could tell who lived in a house - by the number of studs above the door and the type of statue at the base. We were also there when kindergarten let out - lots of very cute small children. We had dinner at a local restaurant then checked into our hotel, the Linjingwan Hotel - again almost luxurious, beautiful rooms and facilities.
A house - showing 4 stars above door with drums at the bottom -
a high ranking soldier once lived here
My rickshaw driver - fortunately for him I went with tiny guide Lilly
