DAY 3 – (April 25) ~ A DAY IN BEIJING

Even though our bed was very comfortable, we had a restless sleep on our first night in Beijing.  We both got up early and at around 6:45am we went downstairs for a buffet breakfast.  The buffet was wonderful.  So much food; bacon and eggs, meats, hot cereals, cold cereals, fruit, cheeses, Chinese food (with strange names such as pea cake, jellyfish, etc), pastries and so much more.  
  
At 8:00am we met our Viking guide; Chuck (Chinese name is Qi) in the hotel lobby.  Chuck will be with us through the whole trip (land and river).  The 250 passengers have been put into 2 hotels and divided up into manageable groups of about 35 to 40 people each.  By the way, all the guides have been give Western names such as Leo, Peter, etc.
  
The comfortable buses were waiting for us outside to take us to our first stop.
  
TIANANMEN SQUARE

Well, Tiananmen Square was closed.  Some dignitaries from Russia (not Putin as he visited last year) were going to be given a tour, so the Square was blocked off.  But we were across the street and could see the Square.  Actually, since the Square was empty, we had a better views of it. 

Tiananmen Square is considered the "front door" of the Forbidden City.  At 100 acres, it is the world's largest square.  It can accommodate a million people.

We walked parallel to the Square, following Chuck with his "lollypop" as he called it.  A long stick with a Viking sign on the end of it.  Ours had the letter "E" on it.  Of course there were lots of 'lollypops' on the street for the other Viking groups.  But we followed E.  We also had headphones on so we can hear Chuck talking.  When you hear static, you are getting out of range and you better hurry up and catch up with Chuck and not get left behind.

That's me in the straw hat

Before we crossed over into the Forbidden City, we had to go through a security check.  By then we were shoulder to shoulder with people.  Hundreds of people.  This I was prepared for as I read about it and saw the pictures.

We made it through security and are waiting to enter the Forbidden City.  That's Tiananmen Square behind us.

FORBIDDEN CITY
...is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It's the world's largest palace complex, home to 980 buildings with 9,999 rooms; all of it protected by a 20 foot moat and a 32-foot wall.  The Forbidden City served as the imperial palace during the Ming and Quing Dynasties. 

The grounds are several blocks long with about 8 sections.  Each section has a courtyard which you enter through a building and gate.  There were lots of people and lots of groups.  So any pictures you take will have crowds in it. 

Went to use the restrooms and came across this sign.  This 5-star restroom (women's) was large and very clean with about 20 stalls. There was a long line outside and several from our group were patiently waiting.  Suddenly a wave of locals and Chinese tourists started to pass us to enter the restroom.  We were angry at the rudeness.  But when we finally entered the restroom, we found that only 3 stalls had toilets.  All the other stalls were squatters.  So of course a long line of us non-locals were waiting on those 3 stalls.  This was our first experience with public restrooms.  I'll talk more on this later.  

At this point we were on our way to the 4th courtyard when the special police started to move everyone to the right and away from the middle of the courtyard.  They were closing off the court yards and buildings for a visit from some dignitaries.  
  
During our visit to Beijing there was a world wide conference going on in this city.  The Belt and Road Initiative.  Read about it as it is very interesting.  About 120 countries were participating, except the US.
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative
   
In clearing the courtyards, everyone was pushed off to a smaller gate on the side of this ornate building and then into a narrow alley that runs through the outside of the courtyards.  OMG, what a nightmare.  Shoulder to shoulder people aggressively pushing their way along.  If anyone had fallen they would have been crushed.  It was hot and people were not very nice.  

However, there was one point where I was having difficult on some steps and a local young man held out his arm to help me along and someone to my side had reached out to help me balance.  Dave was nearby, but out of reach.  So, there are nice people after all.  Our guide was way ahead of us.  We could see his "lollypop" and hear him talking, but we were having a difficult time getting to him.

With no crowds on the main grounds, we were able to get some great pictures.

Finally we reached the north end of the Forbidden City near the Imperial Gardens.  The crowds spread out a bit and you could move around easier.

The forbidden City is a fantastic place and I would have liked to spend more time here and explore some of the buildings.  And the gardens are beautiful.  I wish I had more time for pictures.  But at the end we were glad to get out of there.
  
   Next stop was a delicious, leisurely lunch at Hua's Restaurant.

BELL AND DRUM SQUARE
Our last stop is one of the hutong neighborhoods, the Old China area.  Here there are narrow city alleys that border courtyards where local families have lived for generations.  Most of the hutongs were build during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties; from 1279 to 1911.  Over 600 years ago.  
  
We walked through a few of these alleys to the Bell and Drum Square.  This is a courtyard with two towers on both ends.  Originally built in 1272.  The towers, which were used for telling time until 1924, were built during the reign of Kublai Khan and were rebuilt after two fires during the Ming and Qing dynasties.  The drum tower had 24 drums on the 2nd floor to be reached by 70 steep steps.  Only one drum remains.  The other drums have been replaced for shows.

Bell Tower

Drum Tower

Sadly we did not get a tour of these towers.  I would have loved to see a drum presentation.  We were here to visit the Bell Tower Tea House to sample some local teas.

The presentation on how to make the perfect tea and the tasting was very interesting and one of the teas; Pu-erh Tea (black tea) can only be bought locally.  It is not imported to any other countries.  This tea supposedly reduces blood pressure, prevents diabetes, reduces cholesterol and helps you lose weight.  

Of course there was a tea shop next to the tasting room where you could buy the teas you just sampled (at about 24 to 45 US$).

Back to the Kerry Hotel to rest before our buffet dinner at the Kerry Kitchen.  We sat at a table with 2 other couples from Texas and Connecticut.  Again, the buffet had a great selection of foods; lots of crab, oysters, mussels and of course Chinese food.  We did not eat much as we had such a large lunch.  But we had great conversation with the other two couples.  Stayed there for a long time talking about RV traveling, sights in Texas and tornadoes.  We are meeting such nice people so far.

Tomorrow we visit The Great Wall.