Beijing, Forbidden City, Tian'An Men Square, Cooking school, Temple of Heaven May 2010

I am thankful we can't see the air we breath at home. 

We arrived in Beijing after a long, but uneventful flight.  The first impressions of the city were of run down tenements, brown smog and traffic.   Not as many bicycles or single cars as I thought there would be.  But the bikes are used for everything in every possible configuration. 

Beijing has a good public transportation sysem and there were LOTS buses.

We started our tour the next morning at the back entrance of the Forbidden City and were able to visit the residences with relatively few people. 

The crowds were thick when we got out to the palaces, squares and ceremonial buildings.  Lots of wooden structures, but no trees or gardens because fire has destroyed the city so many times. 

The restoration of the city will take years to complete, but what has been done so far is in exquisite detail. 

Tian'An Men Square has two HUGE TV screens you could see for blocks and lots of people milling about.  Lots of guards and police, but we were not allowed to take pictures of them.

We had a chinese cooking school demonstration  and then were allowed to cook the dish ourselves.   I learned how to make tomatoe and pineapple flowers; and cucumber leaves too.  I'll need a bit of practice!

The Temple of Heaven was lovely.  It had a long covered walk leading up to it with a green tile roof. 

Locals would gather there to play music, cards, dance, or visit.  Crowded, but everyone was having fun.  The long row of incense pots were great.