Beijing Disneyland, home to Hong Kong

Our mornings typically started with a huge slap up breakfast at the Hotel. Quality. Mountains of Fruit, Full English and everything in between...Its going to be hard to go back to a small breakfast...4 platefuls washed down with litres of tea and juice have been the norm for the week! We would also digest the always entertaining China Daily, the officially sanctioned English newspaper. Chortling at some journalistic angles whislt munching on the odd hashbrown.

The main activity of the last day of our tour of Beijing Disneyland was to wander over to Tiananmen Square, some 20mins away, and line up to see the preserved remains of Chairman Mao. Being a Saturday, the crowds were well out in force, this combined with the gorgeous 22C still air and clear skies, made for mammouth queuing. I think about 800m long, 5 people across, and including some old school revolutionary cadres pushing in!!

Mainly middle age to seniors lined up, all abiding to the no cameras, no handbags, no guns, no knives "of a dangerous variety" and no water bottles. I of course chose to ignore this, and continued to wait for the cloak rooms with my camera, which never eventuated. Unceremoniously ejected from the queue at the security checkpoint, the guards, all three of them pointing to Tiananmen Square and jibbering to me....hmmm. My reply to them is not publishable.

All in All it was a great week relaxing, away from work, in a lovely hotel in the heart of the Middle Kingdom. We got to experience pre- Olympic Beijing, see the sights and get a feel for a place which is moving very quickly towards a HK model of development.

Not sure I will be back anytime soon, but was glad I made the visit.

Beijing, Olympic area & Temple of Heaven

Julian and I took the Beijing Subway again, for 2 Yuan (20c AUD) its a bargain! Though not when the stations and lines you are looking for are not actually in existence. The Olympic lines are not connected yet.


The Birdsnest National Stadium, very impressive, but unreachable for the common person. The Olympic Park is all locked off to the public. Though the 90min journey from town seemed worth it.
Next door to the Birdsnest is the Water Cube. The National Aquatic Centre, also off limits.


Outside the Temple of Heaven people sell hot sweet potato on open brazziers atop mobile trikes.

Lovely peaceful wide avenues and parks in Temple of Heaven complex. Again Massive area.

Temple of Heaven

Beijing

Beijing Subway, the brand new ticketing machines and electronic gates are not working yet. Its still traditional paper tickets and ticket collectors at the entrances. 2 Yuan a trip....now thats value.

Military Museum

Looks like a Mitsubishi Pajero to me...pimped up.

Mig




Saucy


798 Art District, an art gallery area within a disused factory area. Excellent, and so different from the old world drawcards of Beijing.



CCTV building is still under construction


Famous Beijing traffice, we sat in this for about 20mins before I decided to ditch the Cabbie and walk the 40mins back to Hotel. The traffic hardly moved whislt we walked beside it. Terrible, and tragic cos the roads are 12 lanes wide!

Beijing Day 4

Beijing Day 3