Day 3 Beijing 

Today, I learned to appreciate how much the Chinese respect their government.   We met our guide at 9AM and drove directly to Forbidden City where we met up with what seemed to be everyone else in China!!  Since it was Saturday, there were many tours and many people visiting the “Palace Museum” as it is also known.  Despite the crowds, I was really impressed with the size of the Forbidden City and its entrance, Tianamen Square.  You can appreciate the size of the crowd when you realize our portrait photos rarely contain just us.  There’s always about 5 or  6 people lining up to take photos, and there are times you just need to push your way.  With so many people to deal with, the Chinese do not stand on ceremony, but simply move on instead – not that they are rude, they’re just accustomed to crowds. 

After the Forbidden City, we lunched on Peking Duck at a famous Beijing restaurant, QuanJude, where they roast the duck in wood fired ovens.  It was … delicious!!  So far, we have yet to be dissatisfied with a meal here – but we’re still in Beijing!!! 

We toured a local Hutong after lunch.  The Hutong was located right behind a lakeside area called Hao Hai Park, where there are many restaurants and pubs with waterfront seating along the lake.  Again, the lakeside area was huge compared to the Nautical Mile!!   I was especially surprised with the number of pubs and bars, many with “Budweiser” in their names.  By the way, the beer here is great!! 

The Hutong tour was interesting, but I guess I misunderstood what a Hutong was!!  I really thought it was a type of ghetto, but it was quite nice!!  It was clean and newly renovated and there were many cars parked along the alley (some BMW’s even!!).    I learned that Hutong is really just a name for a configuration of small roads or alleyways that encompass many enclosed courtyards around which the Chinese make their homes – almost like courtyard apartments (aka Melrose Place), but instead of strangers, the connecting apartments are occupied by families that are all related.  So, you may enter a courtyard through a single entrance and then enter a courtyard off which there are several apartments.  I was disappointed not to be able to see the inside of any courtyard as the entryways all begin with a hallway first. 

Sheri and I would have lingered at the Hao Hai Park area and relaxed with a cold beverage for some people watching, but just as we arrived back at the minibus to retrieve our bags it started to storm.  We were happy then for the lift back to our hotel!! 

By the time we reached the hotel, the rain had stopped but it left behind uncommonly clear skies, and the view from our Hotel Room showed itself. 

We dropped our bags off in our room, freshened up a bit, and took a walk along nearby WangfuJing Street, which is a pedestrian street with many shops – some upscale and some souvenir shops.  We tasted tea and had some Jasmine Tea softserve ice cream.  We found a little back alleyway off WangfuJing that opened up to a local market place with food vendors and souvinir hawkers, where we got accosted by many of the vendors, but had a blast haggling for all sorts of trinkets … so much to buy so little time!!  

We really wanted to eat Hot Pot, but by the time we found the restaurant recommended by our Hotel, it was closed at 9PM.  So, we stumbled upon a brightly lit cafeteria style restaurant selling Steamed Buns – yummy!!  We pointed, we paid and we ate!!  And, yes, everyone stared at us because we were one of the very few Caucasians in the restaurant.   In the end, we were happy to have missed the Chinese Hot pot meal we had originally set out for.   Overall, it was a jam-packed day, and our last full day in Beijing.