Beijing, China Dec 27, 2010-January 1, 2011

Ni hao!  Jeff and I went to Beijing over our winter break.  We were warned it was going to be cold, but I don't think we realized just how cold it was going to be..until we got there.  We were still able to see everything we went to see, and can now check Beijing off our list of "Places We Must See."

FORBIDDEN CITY
On our first day, we went to The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.  The Forbidden City was really cool.   We saw where the emperors and empresses lived for hundreds of years.  There were lots of temples to see, and after a while, they all just start to look the same.

The main hall of the palace.

The lions protect the city.

Imperial Sundial

Marble Carriageway

Temple ceiling

One of the emperors' many thrones

TIANANMEN SQUARE

After the Forbidden City, we headed across the street to Tiananmen Square.  There really wasn't much to see here.  It was a giant concrete square with a few memorials.  We were surprised to see that there was no sign of the 1989 pro-democracy protest, no signs or anything.  We think that it is something that the Chinese don't really talk about, so they have no reason for putting up a plaque or memorial about it.

Tiananmen Gate

DONGHUAMEN NIGHT MARKET
That night we went to the Donghuamen Night Market, where they had lots of tasty snacks for us to try (snakes, sea urchin, startfish, centipedes, worms, grasshopper, dog meat, sheep penis and many other delicious snacks).  We just scoped it out the first night, so we could decide if we were brave enough to actually try something.

PEKING DUCK
Instead of eating snake for dinner, we decided to go to a recommended restaurant for Beijing's signature dish, Peking Duck.  They bring the cooked duck out, slice it up in front of you and then serve it with lots of fixin's.  

Mmm it was delicious!

THE GREAT WALL

The next day we decided to take a trip out to The Great Wall.  It was a 2.5 hour bus ride each direction.  We chose the hike that was harder to climb, but wasn't so touristy.  Our group was one of the only groups on the wall.  We hiked 6 km and saw 22 watchtowers.  The hike was really tough, up and down many stairs  and inclines.  It was well-worth it to see one of the wonders of the world!  The people who built this thing must have been really fit!

This was one of the shorter stairways

Parts of the wall hadn't been restored

We made it!

The next day we went to The Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven.  It was freezing this day so we saw everything as quickly as we could and took as many pictures as the cold would allow us to take.  I think both of these places would be beautiful in the summertime.  

SUMMER PALACE

The Summer Palace was the emporer's pleasure palace.  I'm sure it was a beautiful getaway in the summer when everything was green.

Marble Boat

TEMPLE OF HEAVEN
The Temple of Heaven was where the Chinese emperors went to pray for divine guidance and good harvest.  The temple was by far the prettiest one we saw on our trip.  The whole thing is held together without nails or cement.

Inside the temple

Those were the main attractions we saw in Beijing.  We have decided that it is definitely a place you should visit in the spring, fall or summer.  Winter is just too cold in Beijing.  We did spend a lot of time exploring the rest of the city.  We found that many people ride bicycles.  They even have their own lane on all the roads and stoplights.

You didn't really see much housing walking around Beijing, but along every sidewalk there were doorways that opened to these alleyways.  This is where most people lived.

Cute little taxi driver.  

The food in China was AMAZING!  We ate this chicken three nights in a row.  We had other things too, but we always made sure to order the chicken.

Ghost Street

We met our match at Donghuamen Night Market...Sea Horse Shish-kabobs

Jeff vs. Sea Horse

Eryn vs. Sea Horse

I think the sea horse won this match.

Our reward for eating the sea horse...candied fruit kabobs.

Staying warm in the hostel.  We spent a lot of time here playing cards and drinking coffee, tea and beer.

Overall, we had a good trip.  We saw everything we wanted to see, experienced some of the Chinese culture and got to enjoy delicious Chinese food (it's like Chinese takeout, but a million times better!)  We really missed the friendliness and familiarity of Seoul and were excited to get back.  We can't wait for our next adventure!