First day in China

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Typical, flight was delayed by an hour, great way to start the holiday! Unsuprisingly, to my husband, I got frisked whist going through the long security checks, she even asked me to take my belt off, I obliged of course with a worried expression and frowned at Mukesh who had casually walked off, sniggering! And to top this off, guess who ends up sitting in between Mukesh (who needed more leg room) and an Australian (who actually lives in China) and who needed two seats! Not a great place to be sandwiched in...
Luckily, I was just about able to operate the remote control for my personal TV screen, even though the Australian bloke spent half the flight resting his arm on it. And he had a nasty cold. Well, he was sweet though, warning us that we would be in for a culture shock upon getting to China.

14 Million people, just in Beijing with approx 2 million vehicles on the road - we were shocked!
Our tour guide, Forest (yes, as in Forest Gump - He did tell us his Chinese name, but it was hard to pronounce) picked us up from the airport and dropped us off. After presenting us with a list of all the sights written in English and Chinese and escorting us to our room, he jetted off - probably to prep himself for our grand tour tomorrow of the great wall of China.
Refreshed and ready to go, with an extra two layers and a shot of strong coffee, off we went to the Temple of Heaven...

A spiritualists haven, the Temple of Heave was divine! Built in the 1420, the Temple of Heaven was a place where solemn rites were performed by the son of heaven (aka Emperor) who would come here to pray for good harvest and seek approval. Its amazing architecture and attention to detail has made it one of the biggest tourist attractions in China, and we can see why. I dont think the photo's do it justice really.
Oh and by the way, if you ever come to the Temple of Heaven, dont use the toilets - I walked in and walked straight out - urrghhhh - I wont go into detail...

Hope you all like the photos - it was freezing!

Seeya!

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Comments

[Sanjay, Kanan & Keya too!]

Pleased to hear from you
Hey guys, this is a good idea! I'll try and follow you're trip as it looks like you're going to have a blast. Besides, I left it too late to book anywhere so I can feel I am on holiday with ya!! Continue to enjoy the trip and providing us with all the details!!

[TJ]

I spotted an Eskimo in one of your pics!
My mistake it is Mukesh! The Temple is awesome - I could not get my head around the size of the grounds. The pictures are bringing it all back to me. Well here it is cold, wet and windy!

[Kamlesh]

Pic of Mukesh - Temple of Heavan 1
You sure it was not a Jedi Knight Temple ?

[Howie the Boss]

Show off
Whatever!

[Nikesh]

DVD
Enough of the Temple of Heaven...Have you found the electronics shops yet?