With a forecast of 6 -13 degrees the first surprise of the day was the weather. We awoke to a clear blue sky. No pollution, no fog, just blue. We rugged up in lots of layers, headed outside into 3 degrees (first forecasting mistake) and headed toward the city centre.

First stop today was a short walk along Tiananmen Street, near Tiananmen Square. This street was a strange mix of Chinese and European architecture, and felt like a movie set.  Next was across to Tiananmen Square, the largest city square in the world. In 1949 over 1 million people were in the square to celebrate Chairman Mao’s official rise to power. We asked our guide about the events of 1989, and he was surprisingly forthcoming with information, but told us that during his guide training they are instructed to say they know nothing if tourists ask. He even pointed out where the tank episode took place.  We were able to do a quick virtual geocache here.

Next was the Forbidden City, the home of the Emperor for the last 800 years. Wow. These guys knew how to be extravagant. The place is huge, but also looking very run down. The guide said that not much of the $200 million annual entrance fees paid by visitors goes back into maintaining the City. Interestingly, he was quite openly anti-government in some of the comments he made.

Lunch was next on the agenda, followed by a visit to a Chinese Medicine Research Centre. There we were told about the basic principles of Chinese medicine, and a ‘doctor’ assessed the health of each of us. He then prescribed $474 worth of herbal remedies for us. Needless to say, we declined to Following our health assessment we headed for the ‘Temple of Heaven’, an impressive temple in a huge garden. Another geocache here, this time a real one, our first in China.

‘The legend of Kung Fu’ show was a highlight of the day. The staging and performances were amazing. For the 2^nd or 3^rd time on this trip we said Mr Burns from Cambe School should see the show to get ideas for future Wakakirri productions.

Forbidden City

Inside Forbidden City

A local at the Temple of Heaven

The Legend of Kung Fu

The Legend of Kung Fu

Fried scorpion

Dinner was followed by  a walk down some busy inner city streets, including a side street with food stalls selling all manner of delicacies, including snake, silk worms, scorpions and grasshoppers. Last stop, back to the room after a 12 hour day, lots of walking and some incredible experiences.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

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