We had a great night sleep last night!
This morning we headed to the Forbidden City. All of the streets leading to Tianamen Square were closed off by the police this morning. There must have been something happening at the People's Hall. Maybe Bush was visiting?
It was simply amazing. There are about 1,000 buildings within the walls, so obviously we didn't get to see them all. There were thousands of Chinese tourists all over the grounds. It looked like a gigantic army of ants at times. It didn't detract from the experience too much. We paid a little extra for an audio guide which helped. It's nice to know what you're looking at. There is a 10 meter wall surrounding the entire complex and a 25 meter wide moat outside the walls.
We then headed to a park just north of the Forbidden City. We climbed a large hill to a pagoda with a large seated Buddha inside. The hill was built with the earth that was removed when the moat was built. It is the highest point in Beijing and had fantastic views.
Then it was lunch time. We had another great lunch. The restaurant was not in a tourist area and was filled with locals. The prices were much cheaper than any where else we had been. It was a great surprise.
After luch we headed to The Temple of Heaven Park. It had housed several buildings that were used for religous ceremonies by the Ming and Qing emperors. The main temple was stunning.
Each park we visited charged an entry fee. I have an issue with the fact that we had to pay to get into all of these "parks". If I was a local I would be pissed. I figured a Communist country would provide free park space for it's population. I guess everyone is in it for the money.
