Beijing - Day 1

No problem getting up in the morning: When 7 am is 5 pm back home. The breakfast buffet had some interesting stuff and we were able to find adequate "western" style food to get the day off to a good start.

We met up with our tour guide, Sherry, and driver at 9 and headed over to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. Being "slack" season, we have a van, guide and driver all to ourselves. A couple of things stood out to us. Traffic wasn't as heavy as we expected but it was a real mix, pedestrians (yes, on the street), bikes, cars, vans and buses, all sharing the street in what looked like a big game of chicken. Also, I expected more micro cars. In reality, most of the cars were big, black luxury sedans. No shortage, Audi, BMW, M-B and the like around here.

We didn't spend a whole lot of time at Tain'anmen Square, just enough to realize it's huge and to see few of the buildings.
From there we walked under the street to the Forbidden City. Again, huge, I believe there were a total of nine gates to get to the center. This is looking from Tian'anmen Square over the street to the Forbidden City.
One of the courtyards within ....
Yup .. we were there.
One of many statues. Each has specific meaning.

After the Forbidden City tour we were taken to a "Western" restaurant for lunch. As this is off-season, they didn't have the normal buffet. Instead they served us salad, soup, 5 western style Chinese food dishes (plus a small pizza) and fruit for dessert. The food was very good, and very much like what we would get at a good Chinese restaurant at home. Our guide and driver didn't eat with us, they said were eating "better" food. Turns out one of the "better" items they had was the same pizza we were served.

After lunch we were asked if we wanted to see a silk demonstration. We accepted, and were taken to a building where we were given a little history on the silkworm, a demonstration on how silk is produced - pictured is the unraveling the cocoon to make thread -


- and making silk comforters.
We quickly learned that this demonstration was just the start of a sales pitch. Before we knew it they had us sized up to drop $800 on a silk comforter and cover. We managed to pass and continued on with the tour.

Next stop was the Summer Palace. It was short on summer and the palace part wasn't up to the Forbidden City level, but the grounds were quite nice, and our imagination suggested that they are probably spectacular in summer. Here's one of the many buildings
A really solid "boat"
A gazebo and rental pedal boatsLooking through the haze over Kunming Lake
After getting us good and cold at the Summer Palace, Sherry asked if we wanted to have tea at a "real" tea house. We again accepted and were taken to a place that was short on tables and big on stocked shelves. We enjoyed the tea samples and the warmth, but could have done without the big sales pitch for the "buy 5 get 1 free" boxes of tea and the magic mug. One box of tea was enough to get us a free PP boy so you'll have to ask for a demonstration next time you're over. ;o)


That wrapped up today's touring. Tomorrow, a tomb and the Wall.

We got a kick out of the revolving door at our hotel so we'll "close" with that.