3 Days Off in Beijing

A few days into this trip, China had a national holiday, the Mid-Autumn Festival.  As my customers and colleagues would not be working, I had a decision to make.  I could be a good boy and continue working from my Shanghai hotel room, or I could go f#%& off somewhere.  It took about three nanoseconds to make that decision.  I was going to Beijing.

I had never been to Beijing even though I had been traveling to China for seven years.  I had told my plans to Darren, a british friend in Shenzhen while I was there earlier in the week.  Darren faced a similar quandary, he had also never been to Beijing, and before long a new plan had emerged.  Darren, his girlfriend and a friend of hers would meet me in Beijing!  As they often say in China, "more people, more fun".

It was a great time.  We toured the Great Wall at Mutianyu, we saw the Imperial Palace, Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace, and we enjoyed some great food too.  Beijing Duck will change your life!

A few pictures follow.

The Great Wall at Mutianyu
One of the "newer" sections of the wall - only 600 years old...

The Olympic Village in Beijing

Tiananmen Square

Huge, crowded and LOTS of security cameras!

Each one of the light poles in Tiananmen Square had a minimum of eight cameras.  I estimate sixty such poles.  More cameras atop the surrounding buildings.  "GeGe" is watching you!

The Imperial Palace

The Summer Palace

On the outskirts of Beijing