Angie lost (!) and we had a 60p breakfast from KFC.... A bowl of cabbage and rice soup and a deep fried dumpling..... interesting and, as we were about to find out, essential fuel to brave the temperatures outside. The coffee however was like dishwater....
Tianenmen Square had an expectant air.... People milling around in the freezing wind, talking, selling, practising their English. Angie wasn't that impressed with the freezing plain, whereas Susie was moved and intrigued to see the place where Kate Adie stood....
We wondered through the gate of Heavenly Peace into the Forbidden Palace, like a fairytale image of imperial China. We took hundreds of artistic pictures of architecture from a time gone by. It was beautiful but bitterly cold.
Sweet milky tea with small rubbery cubes floating on it and bowls of noodle soup filled a hole; we still haven't worked out what the cubes are....
Then onto the Silk market for some mild harassment of the 'laowais' (White women) - constant arm grabbing - 'you want Prada, Louis Viutton lady?'
Beijing seems extraordinarily security conscious with scanners on the entrance to every subway station, in which you have to place all large bags to be scanned before entering. Must make life a little slow when it's busy but can see the use. However, Sam, our intrepid guide, decided bizarrely to pop her bag through the scanner on the way OUT of the subway. Always best to check no-one's planted anything on you while you're down there!!!
As we were all clearly starting to lose the thread, it was lucky that we were soon rescued by Sam's friends, some Brits whom she had met in China. We got a little taste of how the other half live when they sent their driver to pick us up from the subway in a Merc!!!
A lovely evening followed of home cooked food - dumplings, fried rice and gong bao ji ding - wine and good company. We were then lucky enough to get a taxi home with driver who DID know where our hotel was!!! It seems that a potential large taxi fare may act as an incentive for them to know/ 'remember'!!!