They'll let anyone in this place

Our third day and final day in Beijing was Saturday.  Our party began the day making the short drive to The Forbidden City.  For those of you who saw the film, "The Last Emperor," this is where it was filmed, not to mention where the actual events occurred.  It is a sprawling complex of houses and meeting areas that was open only to the Imperial Court; who in turn could not leave.

 There is an outer area which was used for official business and inner area where the Emperor's family lived.  There, we could look into several of the structures and see furniture and other relics.  Max braved a crush of tourists to get this picture of a throne.

 Here we are outside relieved to see Max again outside of this throne room.

Following the Forbidden City, we made the trip to the Temple of Heaven, where the Emperor would go twice a year to pray for a good harvest.  It is another impressive structure and is surrounded by beautiful grounds and provides some really lovely views of the city - or at least as lovely a view as the air quality will allow.  What is particularly impressive is that the entire temple was built without a single nail.  It is constructed of interlocking parts.

Inside, there are a number of pillars, four to symbolize the seasons and others that represent the constellations.

We enjoyed a late lunch in the neighborhood surrounding our hotel.  Max had some sweet and sour chicken that was remarkably similar to what we would get at home.  Nina and I shared some spicy beef that was cooked with some red chilis that were powerful - and delicious, and some fried dough and taro rolls that were very tasty.

Then we walked to the Silk Market, which is a huge five story building full of vendors.  It is quite a scene.  As you pass each store, the sales clerks are trying to get you in the door and if you stop for a second, they are on top of you for what you are going to buy.  Then, the bargaining process begins.  Max was able to take advantage of his years of watching "Pawn Stars" on TV to get a few deals.  Below is a picture of the drubbing I received while trying to buy a few souvenirs.  Calculators are used as the bargaining tool to bridge the language gap.   The low point was as I was getting out my credit card and she noticed the American dollars in my wallet and asked me to give her one.  I was so browbeaten by the process that I'm lucky she only saw the ones and not the twenties.

We were finally sufficiently acclimated to the time difference that we were able to stay up past dinnertime.  Max and I took the subway to the Night Market, which features dozens of food stalls - many of which sell some unique delicacies.   Max was freaked out by the still-living scorpions on a stick, waiting to be deep fried.  The scorpions were usually joined by sea horses and starfish.

However, he was pleased to find sodas with dry ice.

Currently, it is Sunday morning and we have finished packing for our flight to Nanjing.  We have had a wonderful time in Beijing, which is a remarkable place and we are very lucky to have had the opportunity to spend a few days here.  Perhaps the most noteworthy thing beyond the historical sites we visited is the Chinese commitment to beauty.  The freeways are lined with trees and many roads are lined by dozens of flower pots with blooming roses.  That is a nice way to help mask the insanity on the roads.  Cars, trucks, buses and vans, to say nothing of motor scooters and even bicycles are engaged in a motorized ballet of near-miss after near-miss.  The drivers know what they are doing - passengers might not even notice if they weren't looking.  But when you do look out of the window, you notice that the car in the lane next to you is about six inches away and a moped just switched lanes in front of you with  no one slowing down.   

We're off to the airport shortly.  The preliminaries are over.  More to come soon.