Just me and the camera against the world this am...except the camera bag got kinda heavy after a while :-)

First stop was Tienanmen Square. Tienanmen is known to be the largest public square in the world (400K square meters). So important is it to China’s national identity that it is pictured on every note of Chinese currency. Rich in history with a huge portrait of Mao Zedong but there are still signs of western pollution such as KFC, Starbucks, etc. Wasnt sure what to expect really. Its just a huge flat square, not particularly picturesque. Lots of security guys, police, listening devices, cameras, you have to be careful with what you say, etc etc. Good to pass through en route to Forbidden City (Imperial Palace).

So after a lot of pushing and shoving to pick up my camera bag through the xray machine, I ended up on the other side of Tienanmen Square which is the gate to Forbidden City. I have to mention security in China is TIGHT! Every time before entering the subway or any major attractions you have to go through a security check. First, I was pretty surprised and honestly a little bit annoyed to take down my camera bag all the times. It feels a bit weird (in DC or NYC, there are no security checks in regards to subway stations or train stations) but after a while you get used to it. In the meantime I am personally convinced that it is a good idea in terms of safety and security considering all these attacks and violence we have to cope with all over the world. BTW, most of the subway rails are insulated from people, so its pretty much impossible for lunatics to jump in front of a train.

Forbidden City was called forbidden because it was forbidden to enter the palace without permission of the emperor. I wish I had better recollection of the Buckingham Palace just so I could have something to compare to. Loads of walking but after the first couple of buildings, it was starting to become monotoneous. Some of the buildings that housed items of interest were not lit, so it was hard to see especially when you have a few rows of people ahead of you. As usual, I wandered off the track but didnt see any 'hidden' gems so I finally gave up and just walked aimlessly toward the back entrance. It was nice but I was hoping for more.

For lunch I met up with a local friend and we headed to http://www.bjkaorouji.com/ for some bbq. The meats taste like Korean bulgogi. Great but nothing out of the ordinary. After lunch, we took a stroll along Xianyukou Street. It was a nice walk until I went nose to nose with the fermented tofu aka stinky tofu. Forget about mapquesting. You will smell it long before you see it! For quite some time prior to this trip I had always been determined to taste this food to see what the hype is all about. So I asked my friend to place the order. Spicy not spicy the tofu lady asked in Chinese. Spicy it is! I watched the lady retrieve the thick black chunks of fermented tofu from a cauldron of blistering oil and place them in a small bowl. The dish was served with scallions, chilli peppers and some other dark slimy unknown ingredients.

I tried to look unphased as I took a bite and punctured the dark crunchy crust. Tragically it doesnt taste as bad as it smells. It actually tastes like anything fried...like regular bean curd. I have never heard of stinky tofu remotely described as being the food of the gods, but my feeling is that maybe it should because I cant imagine any other dish designed to stink to high heavens like this one.

We headed to the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan Park) next. The surrounding park is lovely and massive but it felt simultaneously odd and pleasant to hear contemporary music playing. Similar to other sites in Beijing, it takes a lot of walking to reach the temple. The building itself is uniquely beautiful and especially more enchanting in the afternoon light. I could almost feel the spirits reaching out offering peace and harmony. This was the place where the emperor spent on his own time to communicate with the gods. Unfortunately theres not much else you can do here. You just get to walk up and walk around the building. You arent allowed to go into the building itself. You cant view the interior  because its so dark. Whats the word again? Anticlimactic!

The sun was setting so we rushed to the nearby Echo Wall. If you stand at one edge of the wall and speak into the wall, your voice can be heard by someone standing on the opposite side of the Circle of Wisdom (600ft away?), and in effect you can have a conversation with them. And this is considered a major attraction~?!~...alrighty then.

I was starving but the JingWeiShuan Rou hotpot place I wanted to try was quite a way so we ordered nailao for snack. Nailao is a sweet custard like dessert that comes in a variety of flavors such as coffee, honeydew, taro, strawberry, red beans, etc. It is extremely popular among Chinese and could be eating in any time of day....yummy!

Beijing 11/17/12