China - Day 7

Our last day in China :( We decided to take it easy and just take in a few sites in the morning and then shop in the afternoon. On our way to the ATM in the morning, we found the most wonderful used bookstore. I was able to pick up all sorts of calligraphy books, vintage postcards, and other items that will be handy in scrapping my trip. After we dropped our purchases back off at the hostel, we caught a taxi and headed for Tiananmen Square. The last item on my list of "must sees" was Chairman Mao's body which lies preserved in a crystal coffin. We arrived at the building and found not only was there a 2 hour+ wait, but you were allowed to take nothing in with you and you needed a passport to enter. Tiffany and Sarah didn't bring their passport so we decided to just skip it. It was disappointing, but not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Hopefully I'll make it back to Beijing one day and I can do this then.

From Tiananmen, we decided to walk through the Houtongs over the BeiHai park. There is a temple on top of a hill in the park that provides a view of the entire Forbidden City. The steps up to the temple were quite challenging considering how sore we were from the Great Wall yesterday, but we made it to the top. The view was less than great as it was a hazy, polluted day. It wasn't a wasted journey to the top, however, because there was a gorgeous Buddha at inside the temple and just outside the temple was a place to pose for photos while wearing ancient imperial clothing. We had seen these stands several places before and we decided it would be fun to do. We inquired about the cost (it was incredibly cheap!), paid our fee, and got dressed. I swear to God, every eye at that temple was on us, and most of them were taking pictures LOL. It was as though aliens had landed and were there at the temple. It was priceless.

A Canal at the entrance to the Houtongs


The temple atop the hill in BeiHai park


Buddha in the temple


Tiffany's headress hurt her head, LOL.





Tiffany noticing that all eyes were on us.




After we finished with our pictures, we took a stroll around BeiHai Lake. We took some photos of the famous white pagoda and then went back to the hostel for lunch and a nap. After we got all rested up we took a taxi over to the silk market and a few other shopping areas we had heard about. We had the best time haggling and shopping. I wish we had something like that here! It is like an adrenaline rush when you get something for dirt cheap, LOL!!

The White Pagoda




The spoils of our shopping


After shopping we decided to go to dinner back at HoHai Lake, the area we had been to a few nights earlier. We found a nice bar and hung out, chatted, and laughed about our adventures for the rest of the evening. It was a fantastic end to a fantastic trip.