We woke up Thursday morning overlooking the old city wall
(circa 1420) from our hotel room. We headed to Tiananmen Square where we met up with Dillon. Unlike my last visit when the square was blocked off due to the biennial Communist Party Congress we were able to roam freely past Mao's mausoleum, the China National Museum, the Great Hall of the People (think US Congress but not open to the public) and the Monument to the
People's Heroes. At the north end of the square (which can hold over a million people!) is the entrance to the Forbidden City. It was built during the Ming Dynasty when the Emperor decided he preferred Beijing over Nanjing as the capital. For nearly 500 years the Emperor ruled from inside the city and no one except senior advisors and servants were ever allowed inside until after the 1947 revolution. it is comprised of over 980 buildings,8500 rooms and stretches 3153 feet north to south and 2470 feet east to west. and you progress through more elaborate temples and large halls until reaching the inner palace which was restricted to only the Emperor, his wife and his concubines. Following our visit we walked up to Hou Hai park which borders a man-made lake and where we enjoyed a vietnamese lunch of Carmel pork, pho and more squirrel fish. We walked through the old hutongs (neighborhoods) on our way home that are rapidly disappearing a Beijing continues its rapid modernization and need for larger residential buildings. Both Shanghai and. Beijing have populations over 20 million and both Hong Kong and Nanjing are over 7 million. As a side note I need to mention that the Marriott pool/sauna/steam rooms throughout China were nothing short of amazing and were a welcome relief at the end of each busy day.

Friday morning we rose early for our much anticipated visit to the Great Wall. We arranged for a private guide so we could enjoy the visit at our own pace as well as travel to Mutainyu which is a bit farther out but also less crowded. Aaron was particularly excited about the chance to take a luge down from the top! The Great Wall was everything we had hoped for as we climbed the various sections and guardhouses and looked over the landscape that has reminded untouched after 600 years. Finally, it was time to ride the luge down - each individual car had its own hand break as we rode down the 1km course slowed down only by the plethora of tourists who stopped to take the "cool" photo of their friends by coming to a complete stop on blind curves! We stopped at the government-run Tea House where we didn't get our picture on the wall like Vladimir Putin and Queen Elizabeth but learned a great deal. We will have to ask them how they did it when we visit Moscow and London later in the trip! That evening we met up with Dillon again to enjoy Peking Duck at Da Dong where we also tried mutton, pickled vegetables and other delectables dishes. We were already missing our ten days of extraordinary dining

We spent early Saturday going for a run around Tiananmen Square and the pool before we had to head out to the airport and say our goodbyes to both Dillon and Kathy who is flying back to DC but will be rejoining us in Jordan on her birthday in 12 days.

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