On Tuesday, we started out bright and early and toured the grounds known as the Temple of Heaven. There were several pagoda-style buildings in a lovely park like setting. This marked the first time a random person asked to take a picture with us. Shelley and I are quite an attraction. I've become accustomed to the staring and picture-taking, but today a lady came up and wanted to take a picture with us. I think it's charming so I'm putting on my best smile and saying cheese - building good will one snapshot at a time.
After the Temple of Heaven, we headed back underground to the Metro and got off at Tiannamen Square. By the time we arrived, it was noon and the sun was blazing down. The temperature was in the mid-nineties with a heat index over 100. It was miserably hot, my feet were sore and my blisters had developed blisters. But we were determined to see all that we could see, so we continued walking (and walking and walking and walking).
Tiannamen Square is a large open plaza with government buildings. I don't know why, but I was surprised to see people buying and waving Chinese flags. I guess it would be similar to an American visiting DC.
At the north end of Tianammen Square is the south gate of the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is another huge complex (everything is huge). It consists of many pagodas and gardens and temples (oh my). My favorite section was the Imperial Garden, and not only because it marked the end of the tour. The garden was peaceful and shaded, with an interesting rock wall/fountain at the end.
After walking through the Forbidden City, we hiked the 1 1/2 kilometers back to our hotel. Google Maps took us through some sketchy back alleys, and we were definitely a curiosity to the locals, but we made it out alive (Shelley was a little nervous).
Dinner on Tuesday night was a traditional Peking (now Beijing) Duck. It was carved tableside and painstakingly arranged on a platter. It was served with crepes and "condiments" - slivers of cucumber and other vegetables as well as a garlic spread and plum sauce. Not knowing the protocol for eating Peking duck, we rolled it up in the crepes like a fajita until a waiter took pity on us and showed us the proper way to make a roll. The duck was delicious. I'm not normally a duck person, but I really enjoyed that meal.
Wednesday, we toured the Summer Palace. After a while, all the temples and pagodas blend together. Beijing isn't as old as I expected, as many of the historic areas/buildings were built in the 1400s and are of a similar style. After the Summer Palace tour, we hit the Olympic Park to see the National Stadium (aka Birds Nest) and the Water Cube. The National Stadium is HUGE - much bigger than I expected for some reason. It is easily the size (or bigger) of a football stadium.
That was all we had time to see in Beijing. Our overnight train to Xi'an left at 8:40 p.m, so we headed to the train station around 6. The Beijing West Railway Station serves 150 - 180,000 passengers PER DAY. Thankfully we had already purchased our tickets so we went directly to our assigned waiting room. Talk about a holding pen.
After about an hour's wait, we boarded the train and settled down in our "luxury soft sleeper." This was a two-person train compartment with an ensuite toilet and sink. That was the luxury part. The soft part was a big, fat lie. The bunk felt like plywood over concrete blocks. I could never get comfortable and probably slept a total of 90 minutes during the whole 11 hour trip. And that brings us to Xi'an, which is a post for another day.
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