Day 3

We all know the song There are Nine Million Bicycles in Beijing, well we now believe it. They are everywhere, including trikes and lots of electric bikes. There are also fairly wide cycle lanes that are fenced off from the rest of the traffic until you come to a junction that is and then it's every man for himself.  The other noticeable thing is that there are no cycle helmets and no crash helmets for motorcyclists. 

We started off our day with a visit to Tiananmen Square, which is the largest public square in the world. It will accommodate 1 million people and believe me they were there today. We had to queue for about 30 mins just to get through security to get on to the square. And here's the proof from a souvenir photo we bought. What a motley crew we look. 

We gave the mausoleum for Chairman Mao a miss but we were amazed at the length of the queue to get in. We kept seeing people sitting around with enormous piles of bags and our guide explained that they were looking after them for the people who were going into the mausoleum. Apparently no bags are allowed in and that includes handbags, not just rucksacks. 

The red flag with the dead still guards. 

We were surprised by the beautiful gardens on the Square and like everything here, just so. Clipped and manicured to within an inch of their life. We have yet to see any litter, which is a surprise when there are so many people. It's also odd to see families walking around, ie, mum, dad and one child. We have yet to see anybody with two children. 

After wandering around we made our way to the Forbidden City where once again we had to put our bags through an X-ray machine. They're almost as security mad as the Americans, if that's possible. We now know all there is to know about every dynasty there ever was, from Ying and Yang to Ting and Ming!!!! The buildings were very beautiful and quite unbelievable that they were built for an emperor. After a good exploration we climbed to the top of the middle tower, Wanchun Ting, in Jing Shan Park for a superb view of the forbidden city.  Pity it's smoggy today. 

Next came lunch and this was in a family home in the Hutong area which is like going back to our slums of 50 or more years ago. The food was good and lots of it, although we weren't altogether sure what was in the dumplings. After lunch we set off on a bicycle rickshaw to see more of the Hutongs. After we'd finished we asked our guide why there were so many toilet blocks, although we assumed we knew the answer. He confirmed that none of the houses had toilets and that they all used the communal ones. Wouldn't do for Himself having to get up through the night!!!!