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We awoke to drenching rain and a thunderstorm at 6AM, and I thought "there goes the day!" Not so. The rain ended and the storm pushed out the smog, leaving a beautiful clear day.
We got a late start. Chris & Judy left at 9AM on a mission to find a bank that would let Chris get a cash advance from his credit card without a PIN #. The disconcerting news, around noon: no bank would front cash without a PIN. We have one for our main debit card, but none for our credit cards. It makes you nervous if that card stops working or someone steals your identity!
When they got back, we went next door for a lovely lunch, then back to the Forbidden City. On the way, we picked up a college-aged student and her mother who seemingly decided to invite themselves to join us. As we approached the front of the Forbidden City, (maybe 7 blocks later), she tried to guide us into her friend’s “art gallery.” I told her as politely as I could that we were in a hurry to get into the Forbidden City and she eventually gave up. This kind of manipulation is starting to look like a trend.
The Forbidden City is amazing: bigger & grander than I had imagined from our walk by a day ago. We allowed ~4 hours and it wasn’t close to enough to see everything… but enough for my flat feet & bad knees to protest. To see our pics from here, go to http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172066320/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.
Much is under reconstruction in anticipation of next summer’s Olympics – as is Mao’s mausoleum and a lot of other stuff – but there’s more than enough to see. You keep walking through massive gates, thinking “this must be the end.” It’s not.
When we’d had enough, we exited to the north, crossing Jingshan Quanjie, and climbed the hill at Jingshan Park to a pagoda at the top, from which you get a birds-eye vies of the Forbidden City and greater Beijing in all directions… as well as the mountains, which surround Beijing on 3 sides, though we hadn’t seen them before. And you get a most welcome breeze.
We walked back to the hotel feeling like it had been a great day & picked up some dinner… then tried to get some money from an ATM. Declined. I spent the night imagining how we might get a Western Union moneygram, or get the US Embassy to help 5 stupid Laowai who’d had their only source of cash compromised. Dan is encouraging us to embrace our “Laowai-ness.” There are apparently perks. More on that later.
When they got back, we went next door for a lovely lunch, then back to the Forbidden City. On the way, we picked up a college-aged student and her mother who seemingly decided to invite themselves to join us. As we approached the front of the Forbidden City, (maybe 7 blocks later), she tried to guide us into her friend’s “art gallery.” I told her as politely as I could that we were in a hurry to get into the Forbidden City and she eventually gave up. This kind of manipulation is starting to look like a trend.
The Forbidden City is amazing: bigger & grander than I had imagined from our walk by a day ago. We allowed ~4 hours and it wasn’t close to enough to see everything… but enough for my flat feet & bad knees to protest. To see our pics from here, go to http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172066320/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.
Much is under reconstruction in anticipation of next summer’s Olympics – as is Mao’s mausoleum and a lot of other stuff – but there’s more than enough to see. You keep walking through massive gates, thinking “this must be the end.” It’s not.
When we’d had enough, we exited to the north, crossing Jingshan Quanjie, and climbed the hill at Jingshan Park to a pagoda at the top, from which you get a birds-eye vies of the Forbidden City and greater Beijing in all directions… as well as the mountains, which surround Beijing on 3 sides, though we hadn’t seen them before. And you get a most welcome breeze.
We walked back to the hotel feeling like it had been a great day & picked up some dinner… then tried to get some money from an ATM. Declined. I spent the night imagining how we might get a Western Union moneygram, or get the US Embassy to help 5 stupid Laowai who’d had their only source of cash compromised. Dan is encouraging us to embrace our “Laowai-ness.” There are apparently perks. More on that later.
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