Red Square

Day three was spent making the necessary pilgrimage to Tiananmen square. The square, the target of so many of our youthful shenanigans, as well as other more significant events remains the same. Crowds throng to see the 'Maosoleum' where the chairman lies covered in wax, the PLA honor guard marches up and down before the square opens up to the public..a not so subtle reminder of who really is in charge here. After the customary photography sessions we headed into the forbidden city where Roger Moore's voice beckoned to take a unaccented guided tour. Instead we picked the EZ pass lightning tour having seen the Forbidden City more times than the emperor himself.

The schedule called for a Hutong trip as well. Some of the group did the bicycle Hutong tour which I heard was both good and life threatening. I decided to skip that because my 43rd president was already hurting from sitting for 14 straight hours in a cramped airplane seat and I sure didn't want to get on a bicyle seat. We did a walking tour instead. Hutongs refer to the lanes or alleys, where old Beijing residents live in compounds with houses around a courtyard. They are a disappearing feature in the new expanding city of Beijing. Its too bad when I lived there 'they' frowned upon natives socializing with foreign devils...it would have been interesting to get to know China 'good earth' style.