China-Day 4: Beijing

After a large breakfast, David came to pick us up promptly at 8:30. We checked out of the Hotel Lido that morning, but we still had a full days worth of stuff to do in Beijing, and for security purposes didn't want to leave our bags in the car, so the hotel was kind enough to lock them up for the day. We took off with David and our driver and headed straight to Tian'anmen Square. The largest road in Beijing runs from East to West and goes in a perfect straight line for 36 miles separating the Square from the Forbidden City. After much road shenanigans we arrived at the south side of the square and walked past Mao's mausoleum, the Monument to the People's Heroes and the enormous countdown clock to the opening of the 2008 Olympic games. Dominating the north side of the square is the imposing entrance to the Forbidden City - its vast terracotta façade tastefully 'improved' with communist slogans and a none-too-subtle portrait of Mao - which is a good 70 feet high. We were reminded several times during this walk that, despite having died in 1976, Mao still lives strong in the hearts and minds of the Chinese public. In these days of open markets and tentative capitalism - the communist rhetoric is less in-your-face - but still present. Once the sheer scale of Tian'anmen square had soaked into us we were ready to head into the real star of central Beijing - The Forbidden City. At 180 acres, the Forbidden City is not Beijing's largest attraction - but as it is in essence a single building, comprised of thousands of rooms (legend has it that a child sleeping in a different room every night from birth would be 27 by the time all the rooms were exhausted) it is a most impressive structure. Approached from the south, it is a series of ever increasingly sized couryards cintaining palaces (the smallest courtyard being the size of 3 football fields) leading to the central palace - the one you'll see in films. We explored many of the smaller courtyards and rooms - many containing the original furniture, clothes and ephemera used by the royal family between the 1600s and the late 19th Century. Like most parts of China there is extensive restoration work being performed in anticipation of the eyes of the world being on them. The central palace and several of the other smaller structures were covered in green sheeting and the almoost ubiquitous bamboo scaffolding. Once many more Chinese people had photographed themselves with Kelly and we'd had enough of the spectacle (and, more importantly, the heat) we left by the south exit again and headed to the northeast corner of the square to the National Museum where an excellent lunch was served in much more traditional surroundings. Upstairs in the restaurant a wedding party was underway and of course Kelly left a message of good luck in their book. Suutably fed and watered we headed out to the second of the days' attractions - the Temple of Heaven. It has a slightly larger area than the Forbidden City - but is mainly gardens and open areas. The main temple itself is an impressivly beautiful work - an enormous pagoda shaped structure with no central supports. Sadly, once again, it was being renovated inside so we were only able to glimpse the wonders within. On our way out of the gardens we were able to observe elderly Chinese people singing, playing endless variations or card and board games, practising fan dances and engaging in 'clapping' therapy. Despite the suggestion of David we opted for another visit to the Pearl market to finalise our shopping - and after an hour of this we headed back for our final visit to the hotel. With our cases back in our posession we made the journey to the larger of Beijing's 2 main train stations - and there waited for our overnight train to Suzhou. We said our final goodbye to David - and after a lengthy wait in the none too sanitary waiting area - boarded the train. Our berth was closest to the engine - but surprisingly quiet. Having been built primarily for Chinese passengers - the facilities were snug to say the least. Christian found he could easily touch both walls of the cabin at the same time. Each berth contained 4 beds, 2 on the floor and 2 above. We had bought all four so we could have the cabin to ourselves. The bathroom was shared and at the other end of the carriage - so we decided to turn in for the night - and the prospect of extinguishing the lights and watching China unfold by moonlight found us in bed by 7:30. We experimented for about a half hour with with sharing a bunk - but it proved impossible and we reluctantly retreated to our own beds and accepted comfort over romance. The mesmerising lights and gentle rocking of the train - plus more than our fair share of chocolate - and we were asleep by 8pm - and our iron leviathan propelled our sleeping forms ever onward to Suzhou.