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Beijing and the Great Wall
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Beijing and the Great Wall.
We met up with Maja's mum and brother and set of for some sightseeing. First stop was tianamen square which is a huge empty square except for the shrine of Mao, who is embalmed and laying in state (best place for him I think). (Barry I have told you about not saying negative things about him in this country, you might disappear ortherwise).
Across the road is the Forbidden City. The forbidden city is where some dude kept there women folk lock up so that they knew they weren't getting it from elsewhere ( I think thats how the story goes but I didn't pay attention to the guide book). Where as Tianamen square was disappointing the forbidden city exceed all our expectations. It is a massive court yard of about a square mile (1.6km) made up of a maze of never ending beautifully buildings, gardens and summerhouses. The whole area is very well preserved (not sure how original they are), and great to spend a day walking around. We finished of the day with some beers, boiled meat and noodles.
The next few days we wondered around Beijing getting the feel for this massive city and we really like it. Its very clean and feels safe and the Beijingers seem a happy lot (apart from the usual scammers and con men, one of which we nearly fell for). Then we went up to the Olympic stadium which is very impressive, but I don´t think they know what to do with it now. They are still in to the games big time here, and there are repeats of China's victories on the TV buses and trains all the time. If ask by a Beijiner the easiest thing to say is 'I think its the best Olympics ever' or you will end up in an argument.
Today we went up to the Great Wall and we loved it. The wall itself wasn't that impressive, (as it didn't look that original) but it's the length and the contours it took through the mountains that took me by surprise. You could see it as far as the eye could see in directions like a scar in the landscape and it was very very steep in places. We could have walked it for weeks given the time.
We are of to see an opera tonight (being Christmas eve), a very Danish christmas tradition! and having peeking duck for lunch tomorrow, and I have a bet with Maja´s mum about eating cockroach and drinking ricewine, more about that later.
Have a nice christmas everybody, and thinks of us.
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