Having left Beijing late in the afternoon due to delays, we drove late to reach our nights destination. It was just that…a destination and a bed for the night…so noodles were dinner as we stopped at the service centre. The next morning we journeyed on to Pingyao which we reached by about 1pm. It is a preserved old town and the structures and alleyways are preserved to look as they did hundreds of years ago. A gorgeous walled city.

We checked into our accommodation which was typical of years gone by… a guest house with a central courtyard and rooms off this. We knew we had to buy a ticket that would allow us to climb the city walls and enjoy visiting the temples etc. When we went to do this with our passports we found that it was free because we were over 60! This is one situation when we felt we should have paid as the money goes back to the town to help retain its history.

A coffee and sandwich at Shrew’s coffee shop was entertaining and a ceramic wall of nine dragons was photographic.

Exploring the Confucius temple, the old homes, the Taoist temple, the oldest bank in China and climbing the wall kept us busy until it was time for dinner.

Earlier we had seen the local noodles being made so we went back there for dinner. Ordering off the pictures on the menu is fun and our meal was wonderful…added to by some local beer. Yes…you  hear me correctly…beer!

The posing for photos is something we have watched the Chinese do over and over again and even the small children are learning that when the camera is pointed you take up a pose such as this. We thought this old doorway would be a good place for a pose!

Internet was intermittent so today I write for 2 days. (couldn’t publish this last night but at 5.30 am the internet is not in high demand so here goes. We headed off this morning with a walk through the alleyways of Pingyao. A visit to a Buddhist temple

about 20 mins away and then we got on the road for  Xian where  we will visit the Terracotta warriors.

Leaving the hotel about 7am, we caught the metro to the Summer Palace. It was about a 40 minute train trip and we arrived at the palace when it opened. It was an amazing, large set of palace buildings situated on a lake.

The Summer palace had many complexes, temples and residential buildings. There were beautiful paintings along the “long corridor”.

Having walked to the top of the hill, we then descended and caught the dragon boat so that we could walk to the island. What is amazing in a place like this is that there were areas where there were no tourists and other areas that were wall to wall people.

We were successful in getting back to the hotel via the metro. What an amazing morning!

We left the hotel and our first visit today was Tiananmen Square. We walked from there to the entrance to the Forbidden City. Once upon a time commoners were executed if they entered but for 60 Yuan each (about $10) we were allowed in!

Words and photos don’t do the City justice.

We explored the city ourselves spending 5 1/2 hours inside and there were areas we didn’t visit. We visited the ceramics exhibit which was amazing viewing everything from Tang dynasty horses to the most beautiful ceramic vases.

Guardian lions were at the entrance to many buildings and other exhibits were the Nine dragon screen, the clock exhibition, calligraphy as well as the different halls and palaces. In addition there was the Imperial garden.

What an amazing “city”. One can look in awe!

As it was 3.30 when we left there, we caught the subway to the Temple of Heaven Park. This is a large park with many temples. Although it was too late to enter the temples we were still able to wander through the park and enjoy the grass and trees in the middle of Beijing.

Another Duck restaurant tonight. a more local restaurant completed our Peking duck sampling. Liqun Roast duck was recommended by Lonely Planet guide, so last night I organised the hotel to make a booking for us. With Loris and Ian we arrived at 8.00pm and found that what had been reserved was our duck..not our table. (or at least that is what appears to be the important thing.) It was 8.45 before we were seated . With beers in hand, the wait was well worth it. The decor is nothing but the duck again was carved close to the table and flavour was amazing.

I think Beijing will be remembered for the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and of course its Peking duck. Will see what the Summer Palace has to offer when we spend the morning there  tomorrow before heading out of Beijing for the next stop!

Leaving the hotel by bus early we made the drive out to the Great Wall…the section called Mutianyu. There were several choices to get up to the wall…cable car or chairlift or of course walking. With only a few hours we chose the cable car and bought a return ticket. What an amazing construction. We walked left for about 2 kms and the last stretch has my legs still screaming. it was a very steep uphill climb…but we did it!

Then it was return to the cable car and walk in the opposite direction. What spectacular views and of course many photos of the great wall. So we didn’t have to retrace our steps, we descended using both the toboggan (Ian) and the chairlift (me) and had time for a quick bit of lunch before our rendezvous time at the bus.

Onwards…we then visited the Ming tombs. The two largest tombs open to the public are Chang Ling and Ding Ling. Both were interesting. The difference is the burial in Ding Ling was underground and the only tomb that has actually ever been opened. We were able to walk down into the underground resting place.

The bus was late back to Beijing and our dinner reservation at Qiamnmen Quanjude Roast duck restaurant we thought was not possible. However arriving at 7.30 for a 6.30 reservation, I was asked if we had one and of course said yes. Glancing to where others were waiting , it appeared the queue numbered about 50! We were instantly shown to a table!

The meal of Peking duck was wonderful and with a chef carving the duck at the table it all added to the event.