Day 5 Beijing

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Geo: 39.9165, 116.391

I woke up today feeling really cold. The window last night was open because it was very hot inside and because of pollution the air conditioning was switched off. I woke up with one pillow under my head and one pillow on top of me and I was freezing cold. Where's my blanket I thought...until I saw my now wife had somehow woken up maybe an hour before me and taken my blanket and wrapped it around herself to keep warm. Where was her blanket? She was sleeping on top of it!

Summer Palace
Again, the Summer Palace was impressive. With its architecture, lakes, waterways and myriad of walkways, I was certainly impressed. Kunming Lake in the middle was so big and tranquil. What was impressive was the Long Corridor. Because there were so many people, all I could see was..heads of other people. At first I thought the Marble Boat was an actual boat that could move out to the lake..but no I was mistaken. It actually just stays there, on the shores of Kunming Lake.

Forbidden City
First thing that struck me was the walls...they are huge and red. We had a walk through the Forbidden City and looked inside a few halls. Looking in there seemed to take you back centuries. More than a few times I thought I was back in Imperial China. Unfortunately some parts were being renovated to make it look good for the upcoming Olympics. On your way out, you literally cannot stop. Either the soldiers tell you to move on or the crowd pushes you on. On the way out (for us), a portrait of Chairman Mao looks across to Tiananmen Square.

Tiananmen Square
Quite a blur actually as we only walked through it...quickly. We saw the Monument to the People's Heroes and the National Museum of China with the Beijing Olympics logo in front of it. It was getting hot so I packed my jacket in my bag and instead of looking out to the rest of the group, Winnie decided to watch me. When we looked to rejoin them, they were nowhere to be seen! We had lost them. Lucky after walking in the general direction, we recognised our guide's umbrella (which was unique) and got on the bus...we were the last ones on!

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Photos

Summer Palace Kunming Lake
Getting ready for a dip

Long corridor
Nothing but heads!

Forbidden City
That huge red wall