Beijing

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We had a bit of a sleep in, so went down to breakfast about 0930. Beautiful clear blue sky today. Hot chocolates and pastries for breakfast. Set off to walk to Tianamenn square. We walked down the little alleys to the main shopping street and window shopped along the way. It was very hot so we bought some icy cold orange juices and an apple fanta. Lots of hawkers along the road to the square. We stopped and bought some umbrella hats for the girls before crossing under the road, going through security, and coming up into the square. Emily, Erin and Jemima were the stars of the day with multiple requests from Chinese people to have their photos taken, it was cute, they were so excited!

The square is huge but it's history is quite daunting. We then went across to the gardens surrounding the forbidden city, paid the 50cent entry and wandered around. Very pleasant. We came out at the entrance to the Forbidden City museum where there were huge crowds. We decided not to go in and continued wandering around the streets. Went into a big shopping mall where there were a lot of American shops we don't have in Australia. Erin did a little shopping and then we bought some souvenirs (a fan and bookmark) before heading back to the hotel.

Went to a little restaurant next to the hotel for dinner which was great, very spicy. Seven dishes and drinks for about $35. We then wanted to go to some night markets, but couldn't find any (the only ones we could find online all comments said they were a complete rip off and the hotel didn't know of any). Mitchell and the girls decided to go for a wander anyway and found some pretty dresses and more souvenirs and some mangosteens (Emily had them in Cambodia and loved them) so a successful trip to end a great day.

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