Heaven is a Forbidden Temple Wall... or a can of Sprite

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This is really part two of the last blog, but while the last one was devoted to the city of Beijing, this covers our trips to the main toooorist attractions: The Forbidden City (which was knock yur socks off sort of stuff), the Temple of Heaven (which was... round and templey with crackin' gardens and, of course Mr Dragon) and finallly, our trip to the Great Wall (which was socks right off, feet in the breeze, lying on a lounger with a naked nymphet fanning your big toe sort of stuff???!!) We'll let the photo's do the talking (and your mind do the walking...)

Oh, one last thing...

...no...

...its gone.

Couldn't have been important.

Oh, I know what I was going to say; but it wasn't for the blog. I was just going to ask Vik to get me a can of Sprite. I've got a new found love for Sprite and its refreshing, bubbly... lemony, limey... juicy....

I'll shut up.

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Photos

Forbidden City
Every door leads to another door and another courtyard. 9,999 rooms apparently.

Theives in the Temple tooonight.
Forbidden City vista.

Crackin' paint job Gromit
Colourful Forbidden City.

Where's the guttering?
Not practical for the Scottish rainfall, but it's survived centuries in the Forbidden City.

Dragon Bull thingy on my roof
OK. It's not my roof. But if it was I'd want to know who the tiler was that thinks he can get away with sticking toys on instead of proper guttering.

BIG keys
These may look diddy in the photo but they were actually about the size of Vik's heed.

"Oh tell me why do we build castles in the sky...."
Funky rock formations in the garden. (That makes it sound like a Rolling Stones concert in New York..!.)

Me and the fans.
(Question: is that his daughter or his wife? Results of poll to be posted in the next blog)

Round Ceiling...
... what more do you want?

Bridges and walls but no people...
...which is a rarety in the Forbidden City.

The not very Forbidden City anymore
Once upon a time all you'd see here would be eunuchs and concubines. Now it's full of nobs.

"Doing Nothing"
That's what the sign above the throne says. True.

Temple for Prayer for Good Harvest
Facts: its roof should be blue at the top (God), yellow in the middle (the emperor) and green at the bottom (the common man). But when it came to refurbishment the painters got a special deal on blue.

Wowsers!
28 columns make up the Temple of Prayer for Good Harvests. Its a spankingly good paint job inside.

Brighton Pier
This was a spectacular trek and the photos just don't do it justice. We had a great time and were both knocked sideways by the wall. Notice that we got to a bit without any tourists? Superb tour.

Comments

[Po]

Jambo comment
Re photo no. 28 - Heararts are now on an unstoppable winning streak...... Aberdeen felt the power...

[Po]

Mistake
That should have read 'Hearts'....

[anonymous]

hi, just discovered your blog while reading donna and neil's. loving you guys work so far! i'm chinese myself so i can say with some authority that they're "husband and wife". male around 45, female about 35. fact.