Day 7 we planned to fly down to Yangshuo (阳朔) early afternoon to allow ourselves time to look around and settle in to our hotel. It didn’t quite work as planned. We were woken to cries of, “比尔，北京下雪”. The snow had come early in Beijing and as a result we spent an extra four hours in Beijing Capital Airport. Somehow, we made it down to Yangshuo the same day and settled in to our rooms in the Morning Sun Hotel.
By day 5, we were starting to tire and so after a late start headed for the Lama Temple (雍和宮). After the Lama Temple, we wandered along Nanuoguxiang (南锣鼓巷), stopping for lunch in a Korean restaurant. As we wandered back to my parents’ hotel in the rain, the girls shopped while the guys watched. We ended the evening with dinner in Oriental Plaza (东方广场) with my cousin in-law and her husband.
Day 4 took us to the North West of Beijing, out to the 798 Art District (艺术区) at Dashanzi (大山子). Alicia’s dissertation looked at the growth of 798 and has since worked with/for several people and galleries based here so this visit had just a little business thrown in as well. The Chinese tend to blur the lines between business and personal and on this occasion I can’t say I complain as we got to see a couple of “VIP” only exhibitions. On the way home we stopped off to see the giant LED screen (世贸天阶 or 天幕) at The Place Mall. This wasn’t just a trip to see a very big TV screen, as there is a small significance to this place; it has long since replaced my father in-law’s old school.
Day 3 was a day of contrast. We began with the Forbidden City (故宫 or 紫禁城) before wandering around HouHai (后海) and into some of the surrounding Hutongs (胡同). We stumbled accross the Soong Ch’ing-ling (宋庆龄) museum which, I have to say, is one of the best museums I have ever been to world-wide and well worth a visit. We ended the day with coffee in QianMen 23 (前门23) located just off Tian’anmen Square (天安门广场).
Our second day in China included a visit to the Great Wall (长城) at Juyongguan (居庸关) and then an evening trip to the Summer Palace (颐和园). We had dinner, but unfortunately took no photos, at an excellent restaurant just outside the Summer Palace, specialising in food from Northern China.
Our first day in China included a family meal and a trip to the Temple of Heaven park. As light fell, it was a chance to see the park in relative peace as most of the tour groups had gone home.
