Beijing Heritage Tour

From the moment the tour bus picked us up at the hotel for our Beijing Heritage tour, it was raining....Glad we brought our umbrella! We were pretty pumped when we were told that there were only 6 people on our tour to be picked up as we were the first on the bus...again. It turned out that the next person they picked up on our tour was from Texas. After talking with him for a bit, we found out he went to Texas Tech University too! 

Our first stop was Tiananmen Square  and from there we walked to the Forbidden City - this place is HUGE! As soon as you pass through the outer wall, the complex opens up - a vast wide space with the majority of the buildings along the perimeter.

The inner complex has the rooms for the emperor, his wife (the empress) and his concubines. Everything is based upon feng shui principles from the placement of the moat to the man made mountain (dirt from the moat) behind the complex. The emperors were insecure characters. They did not let anyone leave once inside the Forbidden City so they would not spread word on how lavishly they lived - silk, pearls and extravagant meals. They would even have each of their meals first tested by their staff and the cooks were held there until the meals were cleared as "safe."

At one point the guide asked if anyone needed a toilet... check out the sign. Looks like someone liked it so much they gave it another star. This sign also tells you that there are a lot of scary toilets in Beijing....nearly all are of "the hope you  brought your own toilet paper" and most are also of "the hope you don't mind squatting kind."

One of emperors apparently also loved rocks. So he had volcanic rocks shipped from the Shanghai area and made an elaborate rock garden.

After the Forbidden City, we headed to the Summer Palace, where the emperors would spend...yes, the summer months. The man made lake and canal connecting the city allowed more comfortable transportation to and from the city as roads were bumpy...guess he would not like airline travel in China.

By the time we reached the Summer Palace, the rain had stopped and the crowds were in full force, so much so that the guide had to take out his tour group flag so we could find him through the crowds. The summer palace has a world record for the longest corridor? Or at least that is what we were told. Supposedly the emperor's mom (nicknamed the dragon lady)  wanted to walk along the lake after meals but in the shade, and thus this walkway. Never the less it is really long, so long that there is even a rest stop or "tea stop" about half way down the corridor. 

After walking down the complex we took a "dragon boat" back to the
front gates. The government subsidizes most of the tourist attractions in Beijing so the prices are really cheap. The price for the 10-15 minute "dragon boat" ride was around 25 cents.

After getting back to the hotel, the concierge recommended that we check out Hou Hai or "Back Lake." The lake is circled by tons of bars and restaurants. As we made it to Hou Hai before dark, we rented a paddle boat for a view from the water first.  It was fun and gave us a different perspective as we were able to see exactly how big this area was. 

After paddling around the lake, we had a couple of beers and did some window shopping. After walking down an alley, we lost our bearings and ended up walking round the entire lake... at night. We were absolutely lost, but stuck with it and found the entrance.. eventually. We weren't too concerned though, we were never alone - the lake was packed with 20-somethings out for a Saturday night out on the town.  All of the bars have their own live music so as you walk around literally every 10-15 feet there's a different band or singer belting out the latest Chinese hits though there were also the occasional American song.