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This he did because after two sea days and 732 nm and near gale conditions with temperature 8c we awoke at 6 am the ship was along side in Beijing. When we joined the cruise we asked about changing our booking so that we could participate in the 2 day Beijing overnight tour. As it turned out we made a good decision. According to our guide Glenn the drive to the wall was supposed to take up to three hours but the traffic gods were not in our favour, it took nearly 4 hours. finally we saw the wall and the tourists, like swarms around the honey pot. Glenn reminded us that foreign tourism is still in its infancy, this was internal tourism. Walking the wall was a graet experience, it truly is impressive even he reconstructions.[photos 309] People still wanted to take my photograph. This time I climbed to about halfway to the first lookout point and stopped because the uneven steps became narrow and steeper. I sat down on a step to have a breather before making my way down and a african girl sat down beside me. I told her I was taking a rest on the pretext of redoing my shoe lace and when she said something in her language I looked up to see her friends taking a photo of the two of us. I just smiled and that was enough for her two friends to get into the act. So photographing tall white people is not restricted to Chinese.
We had a great lunch at a Government Restuarant and Jade factory. I was disgusted to find that my Jade turtle would have costed 980 USD.
After lunch ie 3.00pm we went of to the Changling tombs, the third Ming emporer but the first to live in Beijing. In fact he transferred the capital from Nanking to Beijing and those of his officials who did not want to relocate were killed. [photos 344]
About 6pm we reached our hotel and were surprised to find it was 5 star, Sheraton down town a great choice. However we had no opportunity to walk around because we were off to our Peking duck dinner. A great dinner the food just kept coming til we gave up, defeated.
Following good sleep we were off to the Forbidden City [photos 383] and if we thoght the Great wall was crowded it did not compare with the Forbidden City, but it was a worthwhile visit. Next was Tian'anmen Square also crowded. The PLA patrols were parading we thought just for the Tourists and again the masses. [photos 437]. After another lunch we visited the Temple of Heaven, then returned to the ship tired but happy. I tried to have a spa bath but the tub was too small for my tired legs. I found out the next day that I was not the only male so trapped. Volendam undocked at 10.50 pm enroute to Jeju, South Korea.
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