Well, we didn't move there so we figured a long weekend would suffice. Here's a brief picture tour of our whirlwind weekend. Hope you enjoy it.
The great helmsman himself perched atop Tiananmen. There were probably around 10,000 people milling about sitting, yelling, spitting, absolutely glorious!
Monument to the people, although most didn't notice that there was a monument just for them.
Here's where Mao lies in state. I will now refer to him as Mr. Pickle. We didn't get to see him b/c we were wearing sandals, which I was informed, was disrespectful. You can wear a tube top but not sandals. I don't get it. (I did not wear a tube top either, I forgot it at home)
'What the...?' I actually have no idea what I'm looking at here so make something up to amuse yourselves
Throne room inside the Forbidden city
Government officials residences
A side passage where most of the eunuchs and concubines stayed
The original home of the infamous Empress Dowager Cixi
The bell tower of Drum and Bell Tower fame
The God-forsaken climb up to the top of said Bell Tower
A celebratory 'Magnum Bar' which we bought from a Christian lady who had posters of Jesus all over her shop. That's neat! But she also gave us free dangly 'luck' lanterns to tie to our cell phone. Not so neat.
What became our favorite 'hutong' (alley) in Beijing. Lots of shops and good food
A local market
Temple of Heaven
Ah, the wonderful food! Seahorses, lizards, and live scorpions (yup, they were still squirming)
And the 'Captain Obvious' award goes to...
The Great Wall (also a great place to buy cheap beer and a Mao Zedong watch!)
The Summer Palace
Water Cube
We didn't get to swim or pee in the pool!
(The first was Jess' desire, the second was mine)
C'mon! I'm just kidding
The Birds Nest on a wonderfully clear day in the capitol of China.
We had a wonderful time and loved it in Beijing! We didn't realize how huge it was though, but our hotel was really convenient and the food was great. Would recommend it to anyone! Just don't wear sandals!
