CAC and BC visited this past weekend. A walking-intensive time was had by all, as we trapsed across downtown Chicago several times during the course of their stay. We went to Millenium Park, which is actually really neat, and walked past Buckingham Fountain, all the way down to the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium.

We did this two days in a row, because we didn't check the times on an exhibit we were trying to catch at the Field Museum, and arrived fifteen minutes too late to be admitted. Doh!

The next day, though, we caught it. They've got an exhibition right now on one of China's greatest emperors, Qianlong, called "Splendors of China's Forbidden City." Apparently the guy was a real Renaissance man; he was tolerant and supportive of many religions (including xianity and islam), he was a supporter and practitioner of the arts, and he was Athlete Xiansheng to boot. On display were numerous examples of his poetry and scrollwork, along with paintings of him hunting tigers and other wild game. He seems to have embodied a synthesis of the urbanity of the Han emperors and the fearlessness of his Manchu forbears.

And he did cool stuff like name his weapons. They presented several of his weapons for viewing, including his saber "Frost Clear." All of the weapons were ornate and decorated with jade and gold.

It was well worth the visit -- we were encouraged by Ma Pesky to go, even though we've been to the Forbidden City ourselves. She quite rightly surmised that the Chinese curators would bring out items for such a display that would normally not be viewable in the Forbidden City on a daily basis.