Forbidden city and beyond

Drinking dubious red wine and eating Italian while catching up with blog. What a fabulous day! A great nights sleep followed by breakfast extravaganza- pretty much everything you could want and stuff you would never have thought of. To the bus and to Tiananmen Square. A beautiful blue sky day- cold but not as freezing as yesterday! So vast and crowded but not as crowded as our last visit. I get quietly overwhelmed that I have been fortunate enough to be here 3 times - once in 1986 and then in 2015. Modern China is pretty formidable. Great infrastructure and modern technology. Makes us look like a 3rd world country. We decide to forgo the optional afternoon tour ( we have done previously) and instead explore by outrselves which turns out to be a great idea. We wander through old Beijing and then stumble across Prince Kungs mansion which is like a mini forbidden city with a massive rock garden and we line up with others to go through a grotto got touch the emperors carving of fu ( blessings).
We navigate the subway to Olympic stadium- the only non Chinese users. Lots of fun not too tricky at all. Wander through Olympic park back to hotel. To dinner at Italian delicious dinner, French wine. What a fabulous day.Read more