Beijing Round Up
Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City
The golden arches is just down stairs and cheap, great place for breakfast. There’s also a Starbucks next door, but turn out to be terrible. Sticking with the McD cheap coffee.
The weather was pretty good, I decided to walk to Tian’anmen Square. I knew we were walking in the right direction, there was increasing number of fancy sounding government agency buildings and increasing number of security.
The entrance tunnels to the square is like airport security, with x-ray machines and metal detectors.
Judging from the accents, the square is full of tourist from around the country. Many stood inline to visit Mao memorial hall. I wasn’t patient enough to sit through some propeganda. So it’s time to cross the road to the Forbidden City.
Forbidden City is not as grand as I had imagined. Maybe it the dozen of “tour guides” following you around ruining the mood, or perhaps it the cheesy gift shop peppered throughout the city, the whole thing just felt like a cheap tourist trap.
Yonghegong Lama Temple: old Lama temple that some how survive the cultural revelution. The temple was much more enjoyable then the Forbidden City.
BeiHai Park: back of the Forbidden City, also have lama temples. Cost ticket to get into the park, and more tickets to visit the temples. The park i s pretty with many trails.
Tiantan/Sky temple: One of the icons of Beijing, the park is huge. It’s like the Central Park of Beijing. It’s full of people playing Chinese hacky sacks, cards, and singing.
Overall impression of Beijing: avoid it if you could. It’s most a big tourist trap. The food is terrible, the people are rude, and the air is dirty.
