Tian'an Men Square

No visit to Beijing would be complete without a visit to Tian'an Men Square. For me, the abiding association will be with the student protests and the subsequent massacre of 1989. Somewhat ironically the square's full name (Tian'an Men Guangchang) means Square of the Gate of Heavenly Peace. With Mao's mausoleum as the focal point, the Square is bordered by 1950s Communist-style buildings and ancient gates from Beijing's now flattened city walls.

Lunch beckoned. With so much choice, we'd discovered that looks can be deceiving. Randomly choosing a pretty run-down looking restaurant, we soon realised we'd stumbled upon one with a Muslim Chinese menu. Fabulous dumplings and spring onion bread, washed down with a local beer. The individually plastic-wrapped crockery sets reflected the seemingly utmost reliance on plastic that we'd seen here since our arrival. It's very very difficult to imagine China getting rid of single use plastic bags but I can imagine the HUGE difference it would make.

While it's possible to visit the Great Hall of the People (seat of the Chinese legislature) and the China National Museum that flank the square, we opted instead to visit Zhengyan Men - one of the 2 gates, which now houses a museum on Beijing's history. Following a rather fortuitous path controlled by seemingly teenage soldiers, we finally arrived at our destination, only to discover it was closed Mondays!

Rendezvouing with the rest of our group that evening, we were delighted to meet another Kiwi, 4 Australians and a Scottish couple. And of course our tour guide William who, we would learn as the night progressed, enjoys his food and the odd drink!

The next stage of our adventure was about to begin.Read more