"Commies"

China, The Middle Kingdom. Holy crap!! I cannot express how incredible this trip was. Everything was a piece of cake, our travel agency even did our visas for us. Here’s the itinerary we loosely followed:

On day 1 we:

arrived

had lunch near Tian An Men Square.

visited Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City.

Entering Tian An Men Square. We had to enter a security checkpoint just to access the square. Our guide informed us the checkpoints are there to prevent protests.

I have never seen so much military patrolling one single area. There were uniformed soldiers and police, but our guide told us there were also plain clothed officers and undercover secret police officers.

Mao's final resting place. It was closed.

The China National Museum. You have to request tours months in advance. It was also closed.

The main gate to the Forbidden City and Mao's portrait.

It's huge after you pass the first few gates....

and it gets even bigger.

Part of the rock garden located towards the exit.

View of the Forbidden City from the back, moat and all.

went to a Chinese tea ceremony.

saw a Chinese acrobatic show.

had a hot pot dinner.

checked-in to our hotel.

On day 2 we:

visited a jade factory.

climbed the Great Wall.

After our hike up to the top of the Great Wall at the Juyong Pass.

had an awesome lunch.

went to the Summer Palace.

The Summer Palace from the entrance, again, it was way too cold to walk up there.

The entrance to the longest outdoor corridor in the world.

visited a pearl factory.

had more awesome food for dinner.

Day 3 was our free day, so we:

haggled for souvenirs at the Pearl Market.

rode the Beijing subway.

ate Szechuan chicken in the restaurant strip of Ghost Street.

went to the Yonghegong Lama Temple.

had dinner on the Wangfujing Snack Street.

Yes, I had fried scorpion for dinner. It tasted just like buttery popcorn.

celebrated 2012 in our hotel.

On day 4 we:

took a rickshaw tour through the traditional hutong neighborhood of Beijing.

Hutong means alley in Chinese and most of the houses in these neighborhoods do not have indoor plumbing. The government built these public restrooms where you shower and go to the bathroom with your neighbors (and there is absolutely no privacy, like no dividers between toilets kind of privacy).

talked to a kung-fu master.

went to the Temple of Heaven.

Probably the most beautiful thing I saw in China.
The park surrounding the Temple of Heaven serves as a popular meeting spot, somewhere to play games, somewhere to exercise, and a nice relaxing atmosphere.

had more incredible Chinese food for lunch, including Peking duck.

left to go back to Seoul.