Beijing Tour - Day One

Everywhere we went in Beijing, it was a bit like being famous. We now know what Brad and Angelina feel like! :) Actually, it was really Lucy that people went crazy for. We were stopped all the time for pictures and for people to gawk at Lucy for a little while. It was crazy. Lot of parents wanted their children to take pictures with Lucy, and while they were snapping away I took a couple of pictures myself.

Our first stop on day one of the Beijing Tour was Tiananmen Square. It was very big and at the far end lies the Forbidden City. Here is Chairman Mao's Tomb. Apparently he is inside on display, but only in the morning, as in the afternoon he goes back into the freezer. Weird, huh? The line to get in was huge, huge, huge, so we skipped that lovely sight.

These girls came running up to us wanting a picture with the whole family. They didn't speak English very well, but they tried the lines they knew. It was very cute.

Tienanmen Square - pretty cool.

Family photo.

Right outside the Forbidden City soldiers were doing their morning exercises.

This lion is the Mama lion, so of course Lucy and I needed a picture.

The Forbidden City was truly amazing. So much history. It is so big though. We were there for hours. Our guide told us that only a third of the city and the treasures are open to the public and even that much would take three days to see. As it was cold and Lucy wasn't feeling well, we were happy with the abbreviated tour.

Another new friend for Lucy.

Pete entering a corridor. I think we were on our way to where the concubines lived - he was very excited to see that part. :)

I like this picture.

One of our favorite part of the Forbidden City was the garden. These rocks came out of a nearby lake.

Here is the gate as you leave.

After the Forbidden City, we stopped for a traditional tea ceremony while Lucy took a little snooze.

Pete testing the lychee and rose tea.

After tea, we went for lunch, where this was on the menu (read the description) ... delicious!

After a wonderful lunch (it really was good despite what the menu said) we explored the Hutong neighborhood. These were traditional Beijing houses until very recently. Funny how there are Starbucks everywhere in the world.

Rickshaws (modern ones with bikes) are popular here. There was basically a traffic jam of them in the allies.

Beautiful!

Here was a little shopping area. We didn't spend too much time here, but it was fun to see.

Lucy found a parrot friend.

At the end of the day Pete found his favorite place - a wall of Yanjing beer!

By the end of the day we were pleasantly exhausted and ready to head back to our nice little hotel outside of the city. It was an excellent day!