Forbidden City and Summer Palace

So onwards with our continuing bake-a-thon in Beijing.   It’s been a full few days.  First up – Summer Palace.  This is an amazing lake and garden district where royalty went to beat the summer heat.  So naturally, me and 4 million others of royal birth hung out there for the day.  I must admit, the breeze off the lake was FABULOUS and when that wasn’t enough I just nipped into one of the many washrooms and ran my hands, arms and sometimes even my feet under a cold tap.  (Don’t judge – I wasn’t the only one!).  At one of the temple entrances an elderly lady collapsed and fainted in front of the Good Doctor.  She had two small children with her and they became hysterical.  We both felt concern and profound helplessness.  Neither of us knows any Mandarin and this woman looked very unwell.   Eventually another woman came and someone else telephoned for help.  Global warming is really putting a dour edge into sight seeing.

That evening we met our travel companions.  There are 11 of us in total.  I will introduce them as the days go on but I will start with the most fascinating person – Richard.  He has done 7 overlands and before meeting up with us was in North Korea.  He’s very nice but evasive about what exactly he does for a living.  And that isn’t because he is a travel bum.  He has a bit of 007 about him.  Like, if shit went down at one of the borders he could fix it and not leave any bodies or witnesses. 

Today we did a group tour to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  It was raining and I was eternally grateful for that.  It made the morning actually pleasant to be out in (although all that changed by afternoon).  I really enjoyed the palace.  The grounds are massive and our guide was really fun.  She spilled on all the palace intrigue – as in all the sexy bits.  Richard was disappointed that there was no live castration demo in the eunuchs chambers.  The Good Doctor still can’t get over the fact that to get to the concubines the Emperor had to walk directly past the Empress’s chambers and was himself not sent to the Eunuch’s chair.  There was also another medical emergency with a young boy get a massive nosebleed outside the Temple of Mental Clarity.  Enlightenment is a bitch.

It is now Thursday morning.  We leave at noon to head out of the city and away from civilization.  Next stop:  Great Wall of China.  Time to embrace my inner Mongolian.

The Zen of Tiananmen Square

The Party's Party

My boyfriend's other "love nest"

The Water Cube (other wise known as the Happy Panda Family Water Park)

Future Empress

Lions in the Forbidden City

Forbidden City Official Bike Courier

Forbidden City

Enjoying a much need breeze at the Marble Boat in the Summer Palace