Beijing is Olympic

Landed quite late so pretty much straight to bed in the large, but very well appointed, Grand Millennium Hotel, as a full day awaits. The morning sun wakes us up and we seem to have brought with us the warmer weather. So, shorts and t-shirts attired, albeit our guide, Jason, warns us that we will get many looks from the local population, who are definitely dressed for a UK winter! Our first visit is to Tiananmen Square and it is massive; can hold a million people apparently. Then through into the 14th century Forbidden City, which covers a vast area as well. The City is a maze of buildings and walkways, and with every turn we end up looking at another huge courtyard and ancient structure. All built to satisfy the Emperor of the day, who did not allow anyone into this massive Palace other than his family and servants.

After a quick lunch in the government owned No 6 Restuarant, we enjoyed a brief participation in a traditional tea ceremony. Was bit of a tourist stop and spot, but actually quite good fun; we did buy some oolong tea, as it was really nice. The 'peeing boy' trick was a surprise - I'll explain; the lady doing the presentation had a 3 inch boy figuerine over which she poured cold water, then hot water - as she poured the hot water, the 'boy' peed indicating the water was hot enough - in fact, the boy peed over me........ Finally, onto the Temple of Heaven and as we left the quite lovely gardens, we saw some ladies dancing very gracefully to the music of Tibet - quite wonderful end to the day. Apart from cocktails in the hotel Club Lounge!