A week in Beijing is hardly enough to touch the city. We managed to see many of the major sights, but not all of them. Fortunately it had rained the days before we arrived, so the air pollution wasn't too bad. We stayed in one of the Hutongs, not far from the Dongsi metro stop on lines 5/6. We were able to walk to/from the metro in about 15-20 minutes, because we were down a small 1-way alley staying at the Double Happiness Hotel. 
This was very close to the National Art Museum of China which had a wonderful exhibit. We saw it on the 2nd day, and managed to get totally soaked on the way back because our umbrellas were not up to the rains.
On the first day, we wandered down to the walking/tourist street to take in the sights. It was interesting to see the locals dancing the shuffle, and skateboarding on the Church steps/square along the street.
And of course seeing all the wonderful things to eat along the local food street. No I didn't try either the seahorses nor the scorpions. You could tell the scorpions were fresh, because they were still wiggling on the stick, before being deep fried for your consumption. 
The streets were fairly crowded with both locals and tourists. And the food street was particularly busy. We did buy some sort of dumplings which were stuffed with leeks, and also some sort of crepe like item with veggies in it. They were both very tasty and enjoyable.
Of course we visited the Forbidden Palace. First we went to the Tiananmen Square. We were surprised at several things, 1) how big it is. You don't get the scale of it without actually being there. 2) How many people came there to take pictures of themselves in front of the gate to the forbidden Palace, with the Great Helmsman, Mao, in the background.
And 3) how much security was there. You had to go through metal detectors just to go to the square, and then there were obvious security everywhere, I suspect even more plainclothes security as well.
Once inside, there were lines and people everywhere. Of course we were there on a holiday week, so it was probably extra busy.
It is an amazing place and my pictures probably don't do it justice. I did take a number there, but the weather was very hot, dusty, and hazy, so the light wasn't very good for photos, and the numbers of people made it hard too. 
I think the thing that amazed both Cindy and me about the place, is just the sheer scale of it. It really could have been a small city, and probably was with all of the people who were living there as part of his family, or to serve the Emperor. It took us the whole day, and we probably only saw half of it. There is one thing which is sort of a shame, many of the historical artifacts are no longer there. Much of it was looted during various wars, or taken to Taiwan. So you can see the buildings, but not much of how they actually lived.
I cannot really remember what we did on which day, as I'm actually writing this two months later. I think the next day we went to the Art Museum, and then in the afternoon, we met up with a friend of Cindy's who had studied in Beijing a number of years ago. She was visiting a Kung Fu master.
We wandered up towards Beihai, along the way stopping at the Drum and Bell Towers.
We saw a demonstration of the drumming which was fun. 
And we wandered some shopping streets. We also had some of he best food that night because we just stopped along the way at a street restaurant and ordered local food. It was delicious.
We of course also visited the Temple of Heaven, which is beautiful, but also interesting is what all goes on inside of the park. We ran across people who were playing the accordion. A whole group of them, maybe not all playing the same song at the same time.
We also saw different groups practicing dancing, and singing.
And of course there were the ubiquitous couples posing for their engagement/wedding photos.
It was a very hot day, so Cindy went everywhere with her umbrella to shade her from the sun.
One day we visited an area which used to be all factories ( I think munitions factory), but has become the art haven of Beijing. We wandered galleries and enjoyed the shops. I didn't take many photos there as I was too busy looking at the art. But we both thoroughly enjoyed the day.
On our second to last day we took the School House Bus to Mutianyu to see the great wall. The Schoolhouse is now a restaurant / hotel which tries to operate sustainably. We rode the cable car up to the top, and then wandered around the wall. Some photos:
Cindy wasn't feeling up to a lot of hiking around on the wall that day, but I went as far as where it started to go UP the hill, and then went about 1/4 of the way up. I didn't want to go too far so I turned around and came back down then.
Many people celebrate having climbed up and back down at this point.
You can see all of the beer and champagne bottles (yes there was someone selling said drinks) lined up along the base of the lookout post at the bottom point of the stairs leading up this hill.
After our wandering the wall for a few hours, we took the cable car back down, and on the car there was an inscription. Apparently we have ridden in the same car as President Clinton when he visited the wall here.
On our final day we went to the park behind the Forbidden Palace to get a nice view of the city. The weather prevented any stunning views, there were some nice surprises. On our way up the hill we thought we heard accordions again, but couldn't see them anywhere. After climbing up and seeing the view,
and being seen by the ubiquitous securty cameras. We wandered down the hill to the back. We ran across people playing in a band, and singing.
We found people doing aerobic dance in the park. 
And we found those amplified accordions, only they weren't accordions at all, there was a whole group of people playing harmonicas, each had his own personal amplifier hanging from his/her belt. It was really fun, there was one guy with them playing a sort of flute.
And then we went to have lunch, and head to the airport. It had started to rain, so we stopped at a small cafe in the alley on the way back to the hotel, before we left to go home. As always, I have some more photos on Flickr.
This was very close to the National Art Museum of China which had a wonderful exhibit. We saw it on the 2nd day, and managed to get totally soaked on the way back because our umbrellas were not up to the rains. On the first day, we wandered down to the walking/tourist street to take in the sights. It was interesting to see the locals dancing the shuffle, and skateboarding on the Church steps/square along the street.
And of course seeing all the wonderful things to eat along the local food street. No I didn't try either the seahorses nor the scorpions. You could tell the scorpions were fresh, because they were still wiggling on the stick, before being deep fried for your consumption. The streets were fairly crowded with both locals and tourists. And the food street was particularly busy. We did buy some sort of dumplings which were stuffed with leeks, and also some sort of crepe like item with veggies in it. They were both very tasty and enjoyable.
Of course we visited the Forbidden Palace. First we went to the Tiananmen Square. We were surprised at several things, 1) how big it is. You don't get the scale of it without actually being there. 2) How many people came there to take pictures of themselves in front of the gate to the forbidden Palace, with the Great Helmsman, Mao, in the background.
And 3) how much security was there. You had to go through metal detectors just to go to the square, and then there were obvious security everywhere, I suspect even more plainclothes security as well.Once inside, there were lines and people everywhere. Of course we were there on a holiday week, so it was probably extra busy.
It is an amazing place and my pictures probably don't do it justice. I did take a number there, but the weather was very hot, dusty, and hazy, so the light wasn't very good for photos, and the numbers of people made it hard too. I think the thing that amazed both Cindy and me about the place, is just the sheer scale of it. It really could have been a small city, and probably was with all of the people who were living there as part of his family, or to serve the Emperor. It took us the whole day, and we probably only saw half of it. There is one thing which is sort of a shame, many of the historical artifacts are no longer there. Much of it was looted during various wars, or taken to Taiwan. So you can see the buildings, but not much of how they actually lived.I cannot really remember what we did on which day, as I'm actually writing this two months later. I think the next day we went to the Art Museum, and then in the afternoon, we met up with a friend of Cindy's who had studied in Beijing a number of years ago. She was visiting a Kung Fu master.
We wandered up towards Beihai, along the way stopping at the Drum and Bell Towers.
We saw a demonstration of the drumming which was fun. And we wandered some shopping streets. We also had some of he best food that night because we just stopped along the way at a street restaurant and ordered local food. It was delicious.We of course also visited the Temple of Heaven, which is beautiful, but also interesting is what all goes on inside of the park. We ran across people who were playing the accordion. A whole group of them, maybe not all playing the same song at the same time.
We also saw different groups practicing dancing, and singing.
And of course there were the ubiquitous couples posing for their engagement/wedding photos.
It was a very hot day, so Cindy went everywhere with her umbrella to shade her from the sun.
One day we visited an area which used to be all factories ( I think munitions factory), but has become the art haven of Beijing. We wandered galleries and enjoyed the shops. I didn't take many photos there as I was too busy looking at the art. But we both thoroughly enjoyed the day.
On our second to last day we took the School House Bus to Mutianyu to see the great wall. The Schoolhouse is now a restaurant / hotel which tries to operate sustainably. We rode the cable car up to the top, and then wandered around the wall. Some photos: Cindy wasn't feeling up to a lot of hiking around on the wall that day, but I went as far as where it started to go UP the hill, and then went about 1/4 of the way up. I didn't want to go too far so I turned around and came back down then.
Many people celebrate having climbed up and back down at this point.
You can see all of the beer and champagne bottles (yes there was someone selling said drinks) lined up along the base of the lookout post at the bottom point of the stairs leading up this hill. After our wandering the wall for a few hours, we took the cable car back down, and on the car there was an inscription. Apparently we have ridden in the same car as President Clinton when he visited the wall here.On our final day we went to the park behind the Forbidden Palace to get a nice view of the city. The weather prevented any stunning views, there were some nice surprises. On our way up the hill we thought we heard accordions again, but couldn't see them anywhere. After climbing up and seeing the view,
and being seen by the ubiquitous securty cameras. We wandered down the hill to the back. We ran across people playing in a band, and singing. We found people doing aerobic dance in the park. And we found those amplified accordions, only they weren't accordions at all, there was a whole group of people playing harmonicas, each had his own personal amplifier hanging from his/her belt. It was really fun, there was one guy with them playing a sort of flute.
And then we went to have lunch, and head to the airport. It had started to rain, so we stopped at a small cafe in the alley on the way back to the hotel, before we left to go home. As always, I have some more photos on Flickr.
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