Thursday, June 11th

Randy, Gillian and I met about 8 and started touring around on our own.  For something quick for breakfast it was Starbucks and McDonalds - not very Chinese but it hit the spot.

We were heading for one sight but decided to walk around the Old City Walls first since it was right in our neighbourhood.  That turned out to be about a 4 km walk as we went all around the 1.5 km wall and saw a few sights inside as well, tried to find an information centre that seemed to be non existent, and went to and from our hotel.  We wouldn't have had to go back to our hotel except my feet were bothering me so I decided to change shoe inserts then instead of killing my feet on the first day of the trip.  it turned out to be a very wise decision.

The Old City Wall was built  in 1419 during the Ming Dynasty and much of it is now destroyed.  However, this one part has been preserved and turned into a park.  All along the wall on the outside there is a lovely green area with trees and a few flower beds as well as rest areas and some level paved or bricked areas where people were could gather to do tai chi or dancing.  The City Wall itself was about 30 feet high and very thick.  We walked around the top of the one section and had some good views of the surrounding area.  In the one corner there was a building with some exhibits so we went in to look around.  There were several floors showing the history of the wall, the city, the people and also an art show.  The building was built with huge wooden beams with walkways all along the outside and the centre section totally open.  Later, we saw it from the outside as we drove by and it really is an impressive building.  Apparently it is the only remaining guard towers of the original nine. It is the largest guard tower in the country and is 30 metres high and has 144 arrow windows.  From the top of the wall, and from the inside, it didn't look all that big but it really is impressive.  

We then took the subway to the Temple of Heaven and spent the afternoon walking through the beautiful buildings there and the the wonderful parks.  The Temple lines up with the Forbidden City and has the marble walkway throughout that only the Emperor could use.  We of course had to try it out just to see how an emperor would feel but we had to walk whereas he would have been carried.  The whole complex is 725 acres with 3 or 4 main buildings (mainly temples of some kind) and then a lovely park with lots of shade trees and gardens and paths.  We had lunch from one of the little restaurants there and sat outside enjoying the peace and quiet.

We got back to the hotel about 4 and had to meet our group at 6.  We had done a lot of walking but it was at a leisurely pace so a great warm up for the rest of the trip.  We had our quick group meeting and then went out for dinner.  The guide had chosen some very authentic Chinese restaurant and ordered us a variety of dishes, which he explained.  They were all very good, even the liver and vegetables.  Some of the group just arrived today so it was an early night for most people.  

Our group is small, only 7 in total, and includes 5 females and 2 males; 2 people in the 20/30 range, 1 in the 40/50 range and 4 of us our '60s; 1 from the UK, 1 from Germany, 2 from Australia and the 3 of us from Canada.  Everyone on the tour, including hte young people, has travelled extensively so there are a lot of stories to tell and experiences to share.  Our guide is Chinese and he is probably in his 30s.  He joined us after 19 hour train ride from his home town.  His English is very good.  Sometimes we struggle with some of his words but generally he is easy to understand.  He is fast and he's obviously going to keep us going on this tour.  Some of us were half a block behind him and trying to rush down the street to keep up.  Then when he crosses the street (always a dangerous proposition) or suddenly boards a bus you really have to rush to keep up.  However, if he keeps providing us with good food to eat and great sights to see, we will probably follow him anywhere - even if we're always slightly behind.