Bejing

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Bejing is an amazing place - the sheer size, all the culture, and history. Tianamen Square (11 football fields large) and the Forbidden city are amazint!. This was an organized tour however, on a couple days we left the group, took the subways and taxis to visit more sites and be on our own time schedule. Maybe no more organized tours? We saw the Pandas at the zoo. They were so playful and so many of them because of the on coming olympics. The Olympic grounds were not open to the public, still putting on the finishing touches, However, we did see from the outside on the tour bus, the Birds Nest and the aquatic center were impressive. Albert, our tour guide, told us China likes to have everything bigger and better!

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Photos

Forbidden City interior
9,999 rooms it is unlucky to have 10,000. Chinese are very superstitious.

On the Street outside the Hutongs.
Hutongs are the old neighborhoods of small homes. Many have been torn down for the high rise modern apt buildings. Now many people are moving back and repairing the Hutongs. Sounds like the Pearl District in Portland.