The beautiful weather continued on this busy, active, and very crowded day that started early at Tiananmen Square. China’s National Holiday was one week away, and a mega-sized floral display had already been set up. Security forces, while relatively unobtrusive, were definitely visible.

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Tiananmen Square

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The Forbidden City (open only to imperial family members and invited officials during dynastic times – thus its name) turned out to be an unexpected challenge. There were many stairs with no railings and a huge crush of people, and tripping and falling were a constant concern. It was a bit of a disappointment as this was an exterior tour only; there are no interior tours because of the excessive numbers of tourists. A multi-course lunch at Lost Heaven, located in the former U.S. Embassy and specializing in Yunnan cuisine, was a much welcome break.

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Forbidden City

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After lunch, we visited the Temple of Heaven complex, which is now a public park. We had a tai chi demonstration and were invited to try some of the moves ourselves.

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Temple of Heaven Complex

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On the way back to the hotel, some of our group chose to do some shopping at the Pearl Market (aka Hongqiao Market), but the rest of us, still adjusting to the 12-hour time change, decided to catch up on some much-needed sleep. We had another great dinner in Brasserie 1893, a French restaurant, in our hotel.

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Pearl Market, Beijing

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See more photos:

• Forbidden City
• Temple of Heaven
• Tiananmen Square

Our adventures in China began today with a walk on the Great Wall in the Badaling Section. The air pollution that was noticeable in the city yesterday was gone this morning, probably due to the strong winds, and we had blue skies and great weather throughout the day. Our local Beijing guide gave us a cultural overview of China on our bus ride. She talked about China’s desire to modernize and keep up with the West, the educational system and the pressure on children to succeed, the desire of young people to learn English and move to the cities for jobs and away from farming (which is unprofitable), China’s pride in (and economic boost from) hosting the Olympics, the loss of old Beijing with the destruction of the hutongs and their replacement with high-rises, and the history of the Great Wall.

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Entrance of the Waldorf Astoria in Beijing

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The Great Wall, built during different dynasties, is over 13,000 miles long. On our arrival at the Badaling Section, which is the most popular with visitors, we had a choice of taking the easier walk or the more difficult walk, and naturally I chose the more difficult one! I actually went a good distance (about 3/4 of the way up) before the height of the steps became somewhat intimidating, so I decided to stop where I was at and told my fellow travelers to go on. While waiting for their return, I had plenty of time to enjoy the view.

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Views from the Great Wall

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After our visit to the Wall, we had a family-style Cantonese lunch with numerous dishes at the Commune By The Great Wall, a contemporary style hotel.

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Commune By The Great Wall

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After lunch, we visited one of Beijing’s hutong areas and had a cycle rickshaw tour around the neighborhood. A local family graciously invited us into their home.

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Touring a Beijing Hutong by Cycle Rickshaw and On Foot

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Dinner was on our own this evening, and I joined some of our group for dinner at TRB Bites at the Courtyard, which is near the East gate of the Forbidden City. We had a five-course dinner consisting of small plates of European-style cuisine; the food and service were excellent. To get a sense of the menus, see this review: TRB Bites at the Courtyard

See more photos:

• Beijing Hutong
• Great Wall – Badaling Section

My 15-1/2 hours in the air were uneventful. The real adventure started in the Beijing airport with fingerprints and facial recognition; going through immigration, baggage claim and customs took an hour. Riding the tram between terminals was an experience in itself, with wall-to-wall people and lots of pushing and shoving. After all this, I was very happy to see the Tauck greeter! There is absolutely insane traffic throughout China at any time of the day, best described by one of my soon-to-be fellow travelers as “a massive game of chicken”. It took another hour to get to the Waldorf-Astoria, leaving me just one hour to get ready for a very nice Welcome Reception and Dinner. These are views of Beijing from my room at the Waldorf-Astoria, and a view of my room itself – a great place to crash after a long day of travel.