Beijing, China
July 3 - 8, 2008
Next stop we head by bullet train to the city of Beijing. Temperatures are soaring and its very hot and humid. Smog is still extreme even though we are visiting during the 2008 olympics which urged China to pull back on pollution in preparation for the games. We really enjoy the city and visited all the major sites while making sure to drink plenty of water and a few icy cold beers!
Our Accommodation
Stayed at Chengwenmen Hotel situated in an excellent location close to everything we needed
Forbidden City and Tiananmen Sqaure
The Forbidden City was constructed by the Yongle emperor in the early 1400's and is said to have taken 14 years and more than a million workers to complete.
Tiananmen Square is directly across from the Forbidden City and is one of the largest public squares in the world. Its home to many historical events and is surrounded by Chairman Mao's mausoleum.
Shopping in Beijing and Walking the Hutongs
We spent a day shopping and exploring a few of the many markets in Beijing. Some of our stops included the silk market, pearl market and dirt market. Bargaining is the name of the game and you need to be good at it!
Hutongs are narrow alley ways of dwellings, restaurants and shops more commonly found in the northern cities.
The Great Wall of China
This was a definite highlight of the trip! We hiked Jinshanling to Simitai portion which was absolutely fantastic! The section of Jinshanling is more in tact than other areas and became more crumbly as we got closer to Simitai. It was amazingly beautiful but a tough hike in almost 40 degree weather! It took us 5 hours to complete.
We hired a van for the day from the Nova Hotel who brought us to the starting section and collected us at our ending point.
Roast Duck Dinner
It had been suggested by other travelers that we should try the famous whole roasted duck while in Beijing.
We settled on a restaurant called Quanjude Roast Duck along Wang Fu Jing street