China Trip: Day Two

We had a bit of a slow start, and even treated ourselves to a “continental breakfast:” I think we all agreed it was one of the worst breakfasts we’ve ever had.

After a trip to the train station for tickets, we made our way to the Forbidden City. It was built 600 years ago, and was both the home and the actual and symbolic seat of imperial power for 24 of the Chinese emperors. It is a huge complex of gardens, throne rooms, houses, halls, towers, and gates: there are over 800 buildings in total and kilometres of marble railings and carvings: a truly incredible place.
After walking through the Forbidden City, we headed to Tian’enmen Square, a place that doesn’t need much introduction. Despite it’s infamous past, it has become a park: a place to fly kites, take pictures, and relax.
In the evening, we continued on to another part of the city, where we decided to celebrate being in Beijing with eating the legendary Peking duck. The general consensus: “ok.” And nothing more than that.
We had been told of some inexpensive tickets for an acrobatic show, and so we headed to the theatre to see the show: it ended up being a bit more expensive that we had been told, but rather than an acrobatic show, we saw a ballet. The costumes, music, and dance were incredible, and well worth the extra we paid.