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DAY 11 - Beijing, Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

Our last full day in Beijing. On the agenda for today was Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. They are both located in the same area, so we once again headed out bright and early to "beat the crowds". This proved to be a laugh, as the Forbidden City is closed on Mondays for maintenance, so the crowds were twice as large on Tuesday, which also happened to be the tail end of the holiday week.

Our bus let us out outside Tiananmen Square and was scheduled to pick us up 3 hours later when we had finished the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the world's largest public square and can accommodate more than one million people. The entire area is constructed on a base of rectangular paving stones and each one is marked so participants know where to stand during state parades. Today, we were accompanied by 500,000 people. Its name means "Gate of Heavenly Peace," and it has been the centre of Beijing for centuries. At the north end of the square is Tiananmen Tower, the formal entrance to the Forbidden City during the Ming Dynasty. On the south side is the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall containing a crystal sarcophagus with the body of the revered leader. Each morning, the sarcophagus is raised out of an underground vault for display and the Chinese line up for hours to view it. They are allowed to bring nothing into the Hall, so a designated person from each group sits on the ground with all the group's back packs, handbags and other possessions.

In the centre of the square is a huge granite monolith, "Monument to the People's Heroes". Other imposing buildings and monuments line the square. But most impressive of all is the sheer scope of Tiananmen, site of massive gatherings during state occasions and of pro-democracy demonstrations in the latter part of the 20th century.

Our tour guide spent quite a bit of time expounding on the Chinese political system and generally waving the political flag. It was obvious that as tourists we were watched, particularly in a large gathering place like this. We were taken to very specific areas in the square and spent quite a bit of time learning about the Chinese flag.

Mao Zedong Memorial Hall where Mao lays in rest

People line for hours to enter the hall

More photos of the square

All the ever present traffic on the edge of the square

Yup -- another virtual geocache

Across the road, the Forbidden City is located. To get across the road, there is a huge underground passage way. Nobody would ever be able to cross the road, as the traffic is horrendous. Tiananmen Square was initially the "front door" of the Forbidden City. Completed in 1420, the Forbidden City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the world's largest palace complex and home to many buildings with 9,999 rooms. Now known as the Palace Museum, the Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing Dynasties where outside visitors were forbidden for five centuries. We explored the imperial treasures in the grand palaces and pavilions, exquisite courtyards and gardens in what was once the residence of China's rulers.

The entrance to the Forbidden City. Mao's picture is changed on a regular basis.

The courtyard

Want to get your photo taken dressed like royalty. There was a long line up for this.

Beautiful gardens

Yup .. another beer

Judi and Francine enjoying some time outside the hotel

This was our last day in Beijing. We enjoyed dinner in the hotel with our bus group. Sadly, we had to leave most of them behind as we prepared for our extended trip to Guilin and Hong Kong. Only 26 out of the 150 original group went on the extension.

Even though Beijing was not as glamorous as Shanghai, it really was a beautiful city. We were blessed with perfect weather, good visibility and cool temperatures. We felt that Beijing was a true representation of the Chinese people. Our tour was available with opposite itineraries and we were pleased to have done it the way we did. To land in Beijing and begin the trip there would have been difficult with jet lag to overcome and stamina not built up.

Now we were to begin four more days of a completely different adventure .....

DAY 11 - Beijing

Today's itinerary included Great Wall Tour, Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs Tour and Peking Duck dinner. Of course, lots more was involved .... just driving between venues was an experience.

We were very fortunate with the weather. A few days before we arrived, strong winds had blown from the mountains and basically cleared out all the smog and given us brilliant blue sky and cool temperatures. This was something to be truly thankful for.

We were checked into another 6 Star hotel ... the Ritz Carlton Financial Street. We were starting to feel guilty because our hotel rooms were larger than most apartments in China. As lovely as the rooms were, they did not hold a light to the rooms we stayed in on our extension to Guilin and Hong Kong.

This morning, once again, we set out early for our Great Wall Tour. Please keep in mind that we are still travelling during the country's National holiday week. Our bus drove us to the Badaling Hills to walk along one of the best-preserved section of the fabled Great Wall, which for my running friends does hold a yearly a marathon.

During our drive, we learned about the traffic problems in Beijing. The "ring roads" do not remedy the problems and for 2 days each week, drivers are not allowed to drive. The "no drive" rule is determined by the last number on your car's license plate. When the smog and traffic reach critical mass, the driving is limited to 50%, once again determined by the last number on your license plate. Driving is crazy! In the city, the traffic just stops dead in the morning and afternoon rush hours. The most popular modes of transportation are shooters, motorcycles and bicycles.

The Great Wall site at Badging Hills (75 miles from Beijing) is the most popular tourist site for experiencing the Great Wall. There are magnificent views, with the wall being nearly 28 feet high and wide enough for ten people to walk along, shoulder to shoulder (and they were). A UNESCO World Heritage Site that once stretched for more than 6200 miles, this one of the restored sections. It sees 400,00 visitors per day. 150,000 ride the gondola to the top and the rest walk up.

When our bus parked, along with hundreds of other busses, we were fortunate to once again to be able to walk right in. The line of people waiting for the gondola was about 3 hours long. The Chinese people are used to lining up and waiting and this did not bother them. Crowds and lines are just a part of their life. We swore that we would never complain again when we have to wait for 10 minutes at Superstore!

The gondola ride up and down was spectacular. It only took about 10 minutes and due to the high winds, the gondola was running at half speed. This probably accounted for the much longer than usual lines. Our guide told us that if the gondola stopped running once we got to the top, he would meet us and walk us down the hill.

The crowds at the top were insane. The actual steps were very steep and uneven. This did not deter the Chinese, who pushed and shoved with their elbows and made their way along the path. The views were spectacular and we will say no more, just show some wonderful photos.

Gondola Ride Up and Down

We Made it!

Masses of People on "The Wall"

If we thought going up the wall was interesting, coming down certainly proved to be another Chinese experience. We were on our own and told to meet at the bus at a designated time. Thankfully, we gave ourselves some extra time as the line up waiting to go down the gondola was brutal. We were in a line that was about 10 people wide, which eventually ended up at 2 people wide. The Chinese have mastered the art of "budding in" and "elbowing". We were getting pretty good at reciprocating by the time we got to the gondola. It was actually quite scary, because a person could easily have been trampled if they stumbled. We held on to each other prayed a lot!

The Great Wall was another Chinese tourist attraction, but we are glad we experienced it. The scenery was breathtaking, especially on the gorgeous day we were blessed with. Just to see the structure and magnitude of the construction was priceless.

Lunch was next, with another Chinese beer. The location was a factory that made jade jewellery. Judi had waited the whole trip for this opportunity and it was worth the wait. We were told not to buy jade anywhere else because it was probably fake. It was interesting to see various types of jade, see the jewellery being made and to be able to shop. The selection was something to behold. What a time we had to make our selection (Eric was not involved).

More great Chinese food and the local beer

Some of the Jade

After lunch we continued on to the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs Tour to the valley where the Ming Emperors chose as their burial place. We walked along the elegant Sacred Way of the tombs. We then viewed a grand marble gateway more than 400 years old followed by a long avenue lined with 18 pairs of massive stone sculptures of elephants, lions, camels and mythical beasts. It was beautiful and most important NO CROWDS. We were able to do our first geocache in China ... a virtual one.

Ya ... the virtual geocache

Were we tired when we got back got our hotel ..... but our driver did take us by the Olympic site and here are a few photos taken from the bus ...

Tonight we were pleased to be able to attend an authentic Peking Duck dinner. Viking had basically stopped offering them because Peking Duck was not being presented in the traditional manner. But a local chef had started offering traditional Peking Duck and had 10 restaurants in Beijing.

Authentic Peking Duck dinner served mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks bred specially for the dish are slaughtered after 65 days and seasoned before being roasted in a closed or hung oven. The meat is eaten with scallion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce with pancakes rolled around the fillings. The Huffington Post ranks Peking Duck last in the list of "10 Foods Around the World To Try Before You Die".

Fattened ducks are slaughtered, plucked, eviscerated and rinsed thoroughly with water. Air is pumped under the skin through the neck cavity to separate the skin from the fat. The duck is then soaked in boiling water for a short while before it is hung to dry. While it is hung, the duck is glazed with a layer of maltose syrup and the inside is rinsed once more with water. Having been left to stand for 24 hours, the duck is roasted in an oven until it turns shiny brow.

Peking Duck is carved in front of the diners and served in three stages. First, the skin is served dipped in sugar and garlic sauce. The meat is then served with steamed pancakes, spring onions and bean sauce. The pancake is wrapped around the meat with the vegetables and eaten by hand.

This was our presentation, except that after the Peking Duck was served in the traditional manner, a complete Chinese meal arrived. It was totally overwhelming but exquisite. We were so pleased to be able to experience this wonderful Chinese meal.