Beijing, China

Our overnight visit to Beijing was easily one of the highlights of this whole trip. It didn't start out very promising though! We were told to meet in the Caberet Lounge at 7:45 am. When we got there, the place was packed. Nearly half the passengers opted to participate in the overnight excursion, so it was a bit of a madhouse! We settled in and waited......and waited, and waited and waited. Finally, after about an hour the ship was given permission to start offloading the passengers. We got settled onto our bus quickly enough, and then it was discovered that two people were missing. We sat there for another 15 minutes waiting for the two people to show up – in the meantime, all of the other buses departed. Finally we were given permission to leave without the missing two. The traffic driving away from the pier was terrible, and we crawled along for about 20 minutes. Just as it looked like we were finally going to be able to hit the open road, our guide received a call that our two missing passengers had just turned up, and that we would have to pull over and wait for them to catch up to us. I'm not exactly sure how you manage to sleep through the docking of the ship and the numerous shipboard announcements in preparation for going ashore, but obviously some people can! At this point we also discovered that some idiot who was only supposed to be on a day trip had somehow managed to board our bus, despite us having had our tickets checked three times. Frustration! Luckily all of the buses had been scheduled to stop at the same spot for a bathroom break so we were able to ditch the guy about an hour later. More bad news at the bathroom stop though – some poor old lady fell coming out of one of the stalls, and we later found out that she had broken her hip and had to be taken to hospital. I was really beginning to think our trip was cursed, but luckily this was the end of the mishaps (as far as I know!). The rest of the 3 hour drive to Beijing passed painlessly enough, and we were taken to a jade gallery for a quick tour and lunch. Lunch was a lot of fun as we were seated at round tables with a lazy susan in the middle and plied with various drinks and delicacies. We were then given time to tour the jade gallery and shop, which was full of many beautiful (and expensive!) pieces. Finally it was time to leave, and we headed for the Great Wall. One minute we're taking in the sights of Beijing, the next minute I could see the Wall perched high on the hillside in the distance. It was unbelievable! I can't even begin to describe how I felt – climbing the Great Wall is something everyone should do at least once, and it is something that I will remember forever. It's a tough climb though! The stairs are very steep and uneven, and the higher up I got the more I felt like I was going to trip – it got a little scary! The view was amazing though, and just to see the Wall stretching out in front of you, behind you, and all around you....it was truly something. After I climbed back down on wobbly legs we re-boarded the bus and we went to the Olympic Green. I personally have never found the Bird's Nest to be a particularly attractive building, but it was the highlight of the day for some of our fellow passengers, and it is definitely an interesting looking structure! There were so many people there too! There were literally dozens of buses in the parking lot when we arrived and people all over the area hawking their wares selling everything from postcards to multi-layered kites and Olympic souvenirs. We then headed to our hotel, which was very luxurious. The bathroom in our hotel room had windows all down one side so you could see in from where the bed was – very strange! Thankfully you could lower a shade over the windows. Friday morning we were up by 5:30 and on the road by 8:00. Breakfast at the hotel was interesting – they served both Chinese and Western cuisine, and we enjoyed observing the very different choices made by our group and the Chinese guests at the hotel! While everyone in our group was eating toast, yogurt and muffins, the other guests were eating dumplings, salad, soup and baked potatoes! Our first stop that morning was at Tiananmen Square. Even though it was only about 8:15 am when we got there, there were easily 1000 people already lined up to enter Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. The square was very busy, but our guide told us we were lucky to get there at such a quiet time! The wind was really strong and cold, and even mum and I were glad to have our jackets! We had a group photo taken in front of the gate separating Tiananmen Square from The Forbidden City, and then were set free to wander around the square for a few minutes. We then drove to another gate leading into The Forbidden City and were given a tour. It was amazing – like stepping back in time! Endless buildings and courtyards all intricately carved and brightly decorated. It was very busy as well, but there was so much space inside that it did not feel the least bit crowded. They are working on restoring all of the buildings in anticipation of the 600^th anniversary, and it really looks great. The Imperial Garden was very beautiful, full of decorative limestone rocks and old and very interesting looking trees – I bet it's even more lovely in the summer. We spent about 2 hours in The Forbidden City and then exited through the North Gate, crossing the moat – and just like that, we were back into the hustle and bustle of the traffic in Beijing. It's amazing that a place like that exists in the middle of a city of 14 million people! Next up we were taken to a nearby hotel for a lunch of roast peking duck, and it was sooooo good! Our final stop of the day was at The Temple of Heaven, which was constructed about the same time as The Forbidden City. The Temple is surrounded by a very large and lovely park that we were told is popular in the mornings for exercising and martial arts and as we passed through on our way to the Temple there were a lot of people around visiting, playing games and dancing. Our guide told us that it is an especially popular spot for the elderly to gather. The Temple itself is very impressive, the highlight being the circular building called the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests which was constructed using no nails. Finally it was time to depart, and we made the 3 hour drive back to Xingang and the ship. A truly wonderful two days away from the ship, and I know I keep saying this, but I definitely need to come back to Beijing and spend more time there!!! The people were warm and welcoming and everywhere we went there was a happy and relaxed feeling.