Today was another tiring but fun day. Began it with brushing my teeth in freezing cold water, which completely numbed my mouth. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but no choice. Breakfast was good though, it consisted of a Chinese pancake with egg cooked into it and I had mine with a sausage. It was extremely cheap, the equivalent of $1.30 CDN and that included a drink too.
After that, we made our way to Tiananmen Square and queued for the Mao Zedong mausoleum. I couldn't believe how strict the rules were to get in and see his body lie in state. Had to surrender cameras and go through metal detectors, and when we did get the chance to see the body, it wasn't that good since it was behind two layers of glass and the body just didn't look like him...
Making our way out of the mausoleum, I finally got to experience the real Tiananmen Square. Bought a couple flags and a communist hat. It felt good to be there in person after seeing and reading about it so much.
Of course, you couldnt just leave that place without going under the gate (the one with the massive Mao photo) and explore the Forbidden City! I can tell you now that no palace I've seen in Korea can compare at all to the Forbidden City. It's bigger than all the palaces in Korea combined, which is why it took up most of our day and we still didn't finish seeing all of it...So the rest will be saved for my next trip back to Beijing.
Wangfujing was next up. The only way I can describe Wangfujing, is it's a mix between Myeongdong and Namdaemun market. And that was the place where I finally found some wi-fi...well it was in a McDonald's and it wasn't unlimited, only 30 mins free and after you'd have to pay. I would've thought Beijing would have better internet facilities. Wangfujing was also where I could buy some Mao and Cultural Revolution memorabilia on a side street market.
Ended the day with a stroll through Beijing University. The dinner wasn't too special, it was just some meat and rice, a far cry from the delicious Peking duck yesterday. Sigh I miss that...
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