Chapter 11: Beijing, China

Beijing (northern city), China.
Population: 17.5 million
Hostel: Beijing Downtown Backpackers Hostel ($10)
This hostel served free breakfast and the staff was awesome!

The first day we went to the Forbidden City.
AKA The Palace Museum.

Jumpshot at Tiananmen Square, across from the Palace Museum.

Some friends we made at the Museum.

Each building had a different number of dragons on the ledge, to show which buildings were more important.

At Olympic Square.

Tanier, the Olympian.

The Bird's Nest

M is for my man, Michael Phelps.

The first night in Beijing we went to an Acrobat Show. AMAZING. I would've gone every night if I was made of money. At one point, there were 12 people balanced on a bicycle they were riding around stage. It was the coolest show I've ever seen.

Chinese Post-its.

We went to an artsy neighborhood called 798.

We reached a fork in the road, which sign should we follow?

For Tawn and Katrina. You so excited for your concert next month?!

Obama or Tiger Woods?

We went to the best part of the Great Wall, Mutianyu. We rode a taxi to a bus to a taxi, took a few hours. I don't think I could find it again if I tried. We rode a cable car up to the mountain.

The Great Wall was a work out. Steep stairs everywhere.

Jump shots on the Great Wall!

My dad has challenged my entire family to read the Book of Mormon. If we finish before he does, we get a prize. I don't digest the scriptures as fast as he does, but I read every day on my trip. I should've taken BOM pictures in all the cool places we traveled.

And then we rode a toboggan sled down the mountain. If you're going to the Great Wall from Beijing, I dare you to find Mutianyu.

The Summer Palace

China GREATLY needs to update their historical buildings.
Taiwan has much prettier pagodas, buddhas, and temples than anything I saw in China.

More Summer Palace...

Are these people ice skating on a lake?!

They're not even supposed to be out there. Check out the sign.

It's just snow...

The Temple of Heaven.

Tanier really wanted some Peking Duck in Beijing...

...so we went to a nice restaurant....

...but I was being a cheapskate, so we ordered the Peking Duck wings.
FYI-duck wings are NOT meat-y. Biggest mistake ever. Sorry T.

The CCTV (china central tv) Building. This building is so tight, but I didn't know that the building next to it ignited during fireworks for the Lantern Festival the year before. This fire caused $1 billion dollars in damage, so severe that occupants haven't been able to move into the CCTV building due to safety concerns to the building structure.

Our last night in Beijing, we went to Wang fu Jing Road. This is where all the crazy street vendors are that you probably saw publicized during the Beijing Olympics.

Scorpions. insects.

An actual Bird's Nest. Not sure what that is? I wasn't.

The edible bird's nests are among the most expensive animal products consumed by humans. The nests have been traditionally used in Chinese cooking for over 400 years.
The nests are built during the breeding season by the male swiftlet over a period of 35 days. They take the shape of a shallow cup stuck to the cave wall. The nests are composed of interwoven strands of salivary laminae cement. Both nests have high levels of calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium.

A great pair: snakes and fruit!

eating snake, it popped in my mouth...

...I gagged and swallowed it down. Bleh!

Then we had silk worm. Not great, not bad.

Tanier gagging on snake.

But the shark was delicious. It didn't have any fat, it was really good.

Door in Beijing.

A Beijing Tuk Tuk!

Sweet bike!

Chinese bumper stickers!

Beijing Hole.

I failed to mention one thing: the hacking. Everywhere we went, people hacked up loogies and spit them on the street. We slept on a sleeper train from Xi'an to Beijing and we were lucky to be placed right next to the bathrooms. For our 12 hour ride, all I heard was people hacking loogies. Beijing is cool and China is interesting but I was so excited to head back to Taiwan, where people are civilized....
...my trip is coming to a close.