Operating on 3hrs of sleep the night before. Breakfast was less appetizing but I liked the fresh carrot orange juice blended on the go. I forgot to mention they had cucumber juice for us yesterday...healthy I guess but tasted interesting :-)

Visited Ming Tombs (Ming Shishan Ling). I was excited to go see this. It was nice to be able to get away from the city for a day to see the tombs. First stop was Dingling Tomb. After a bit of walking we eventually came to the underground palace which consists of several concrete rooms down a lot of stairs. One room contains a bunch of red boxes which are replicas of the emperors tomb, the tombs of his two emperesses and other boxes that held the treasures needed for his eternal journey. Since they are all replicas it was a bit anticlimactic for me.

Next stop was Changling tomb. Ming Tombs actually consists of 13 royal tombs scattered all over Beijing and Changling is one of the three (Changling, Dingling and Zhaoling) that are open to public. Changling is more like a mausoleum displaying some excavated artifacts. While I'm not much of a coffin or tomb person, unlike everything else I had seen it didnt really compare. 

Not quite photo inspiring. The wind was blustering through the valleys. The surrounding mountains looked dull and trees liveless. It was more interesting taking the subway riding the bus and hailing taxi though...felt almost like a local :-)

We went to MeiZhouDongPo, http://www.meizhou.com.cn/, for lunch. Lots of food ordered but once again too greasy for my taste. The corn bread was especially delish. One of the dishes ordered was a piece of pig fat the size of a 6oz steak. Nothing but fat sauteed in brown sauce. I guess when you're in China ya gotta eat like real Chinese. I finished the whole damn thing but it was the nastiest thing I have ever tasted in my entire life. There goes my years of burning fat at the gym. It kinda got stuck in my throat and stayed there for the longest time...oh shit I think I might have seen hell finally :-)

Oh gosh almost everyone chain smokes and there is no designated areas for smokers. They also gag and spit a lot too...

Next stop was 798 Art Zone. It is an abandoned factory being shut down because of pollution. Interesting fact but not photo inspiring for me.

The most memorable place so far today had been Yandai Xiejie, located near by Houhai. The street is especially popular in the evening as the artistic modern lighting and neon, mixed with traditional red lanterns creates a lively inviting and romantic atmosphere. We sat in a charming cozy traditional teahouse looking out to the delightful Shichahai lake as night falls. I can definitely get used to the taste of warm chrysanthemum tea listening to the echoing wind and watching people cruising by...how I wish there was a pillow and a blanket and it was only 6pm :-)

Beijing 11/13/12