Beijing 26 March 2009

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We arrived in Beijing in the early morning, and were met by our guide, Gary (his English nickname!) and driven to our hotel. We were all more than a little tired from our overnight train trip, so we checked-in, and had a little nap before venturing out again. Our hotel, North Garden Hotel, is just off Wangfujing Street, which is a major shopping area, for locals and tourists. We managed to find some of our coveted stores, such as Nike and Adidas, and also found a Starbucks for some North American style coffee and drinks (carmel frappucinno for T!). The street was largely a pedestrian mall, which is great, as the traffic in Beijing is overwhelmingly crazy. The streets are either 6 lanes or 1.5 lanes wide (with cars always trying to squeeze by regardless of the lanes!), and countless bicycles or mopeds swerving in and around traffic!

Later that evening we walked over to Tiananmen Square, which was light up around the monuments. Tiananmen Square is across from Tiananmen Gate, or the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which is the southern gate to the Forbidden City. The Gate of Heavenly Peace is famous site of Chairman Mao Zedong’s proclamation of the new China (People’s Republic of China) in 1949. His influence is everywhere, as is his portrait, including the Chinese currency. The Square is also, of course, where students were protesting against the communist government, and pro-democracy, in 1989 when the troops and tanks were rolled out to quell that movement.

All for now. Big day tomorrow, with first full day of our guided city tour. Blog at you later! - J

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Photos

Tiananmen Gate
or 'Gate of Heavenly Peace', the south gate to the Forbidden City. This gate also looks across to Tiananmen Square.

Fast food!
Is it any wonder why obesity rates are increasing in China!?!?!?