Beijing then off to Guilin

Short day in Beijing followed by an evening flight down south to Guilin.  Woke up early and headed to the Forbidden City.  Learned that the ruler had a lot of concubines as well as eunuchs who were sterilized and helped run this massive pace.  Enjoy the pics...

Here's the main thrown.  It was tough to get to the front of the pack.  People in these settings tend to push a lot, especially in China.  Apparently our guide said that if, during the cultural revolution, you didn't push to get your food, you might not get any. 

Large soup bowl: 

 We then visited the Beijing School of Opera (or something like that).  Before entering, we had 10 minutes or so.  Three of us went to the school yard next door and schooled the other team at basketball.  The nice thing about the trip during March was that it was great temperatures all around.  No jacket required.

 Before going to the airport, we stopped by the art district 798.

 They turned an old manufacturing area into many blocks of art galleries.

 And then we headed back to the airport.  See ya bus!  The airplane was packed.  They served a small dinner, even on a short flight, but they also blasted this kung fu movie.  Also, as mentioned before, people will push more to get to the front.  When we landed and stopped just before pulling up to the gate, about 10 people started to get their things.  The stewardess raced down the aisle yelling at them to get back in their seat.  It was misty and rained all night in Guilin, a marvelous paradise!

Beijing Day 3 (Monday)

Beijing - Day 3 (Monday)

First day catching up with the rest of the group from Chicago.  Woke up early and wandered around the streets nearby, finding some good steamed dumplings - 8 for about a dollar.  Then we met up at the hotel and went to Tienanmen Square, the hutongs (old neighborhoods, and the acrobatic show).

At the southeast corner, we started walking.  The south side of the Square has this cool entrance: 

Another view of the same:

Now, walking north, we came to the picture of Mao.  I asked a local to take a picture of me (I'm covering Mao's portrait).  Mao is also buried around here, but it is closed (along with many government sites) on Mondays.  During the week, the place is crammed with people filing up to see Mao in his mausoleum.

The local who took a portrait of me also wanted a picture with me.  Many locals stared at us, as if foreigners were an uncommon site to them.  We didn't see too many other foreigners around here.  As we walked in our big group together with Bat (Chinese local who was our tour guide, cool guy) speaking English to us, locals would walk with us and come in to listen to Bat.  

Walking closer, across the street, here is the entrance:

Closer up.

Quite a number of locals visiting.  Pretty impressive when you compare this to DC where I was a few months earlier and there was just a hand full of people at the Lincoln Memorial.

Approaching the Forbidden City, which was closed this day (we went another day).  Renovations going on.

Walking outside the forbidden city, next to the moat:

Other side of the moat.  The trees were nice:

Now, in a Rickshaw headed through the hutongs to lunch with a local in her house:

We stopped half way at a popular street.

Walked down a busy street.  Here's a pastry shop:

Ducks.  The Peking Duck was pretty tasty.

Atop a restaurant.  The architecture was pretty impressive.

Another view from the top:

Going in the Rickshaws:

At the local's house...here are the first dishes...nuts, some oysters I think, coke or sprite (always), and some veggies.  Meals were always family style.  Her house was worth about 200,000 RMB per square meter...things are cheap in China but the real estate prices (which the government always owns the land on) are steep.

Obama T-Shirt.  This one seems to be popular over China.  Mao-bama.  This was at the Pearl market again.  Bought some Beats for $5.  This is a great place to learn some negotiating skills, as well as to get accosted at.

Headed to the acrobat place.  

Impressive CCTV building:

Acrobat show...also went to one in Shanghai which was pretty good.  They had 10 girls on a single bike, umbrella twirling, balancing acts, stacking chairs, jumping through rings, and of course the motorcycle stunt:

Headed to the Peking Duck restaurant:

Family style:

Here's the duck.