So today was our last day in Beijing! One more tour we had arranged to do though - a morning tour through the hutongs of Beijing. (A hutong is a traditional courtyard residence). Not such an early start for us today though which was great (a lie in at last...kind off!), we were picked up at 9 by our guide Lily and driven to the main hutong area where we had a rickshaw ride. To be honest there wasn't a great deal to be seen to begin with, the hutongs are quite run down, very small, one storey grey buildings. We were dropped off in the centre though which was filled with bars and cafes surrounding a lake, actually a really nice area and would have been good to visit at night if we had known about it! After a wander through the streets we went inside a drum tower, climbed up 70 very big steep steps (didn't help my aching knee one bit but nevermind!) and watched a drum performance. The views from up there would have been great if it hadn't been so smoggy again but nevermind!!
We then made our way through the alleyways to visit a typical hutong residence. You can even stay there over night if you want to!!
This then saw the end of our morning tour, and we were dropped back at the hotel. It was almost lunch so we decided to pop across to the restaurant across the road we went to on Tuesday night and shared a bowl of noodles in soy bean paste (our favourite), sweet and sour pork (gorgeous) and some green veg with peanuts (not so nice but Alex seemed to enjoy it!). Still absolutely shattered from yesterday we went back to our room and ended up falling asleep for a few hours.
Late afternoon we decided to visit Tiananmen Square again as we didn't actually go on to the square in the city tour. We took lots of photos, and plenty of selfies! We then wandered down to Wangfujing Street which is the main shopping street in beijing with shops like Zara, Gap, Cartier (yes please!!). By this time we were getting hungry again so decided to see what delights we could try from the night market!! Alex ended up trying some insects of some sorts, we think locusts??! I've uploaded some photos!! I stuck to what seemed like a chicken pancake, Alex had a beef one to take the taste away(!) and then some strawberries covered in caramelised sugar. Still feeling hungry we went to a different restaurant opposite the hotel and had some tea - Peking duck pancakes, beef noodles (I just had the noodles), and some green veg again, spinach we think. Food is so cheap over here, and the portions are massive!
With our alarms set for 3.30am tomorrow morning with being picked up for our airport transfer at 5am, we decided to go back to the hotel and pack. Beijing has been brilliant, we've seen so much in such a short time it's been non-stop! But loved every minute of it and definitely a trip everyone should make!!!
Now time to sleep before our adventure continues in Shanghai!!!
Xxxxx