Brrrrrr, Beijing

Last week we flew into China’s capital, Beijing, home to 15.6 million people., Immediately we were thankful for the puffy, down jackets we’d purchased in Guilin. It was cold, cold, cold. But despite the bitter temperatures, we were excited to explore this enormous city. Beijing is similar in size to Belgium, and unlike Hong Kong, which felt compact, Beijing is spread out. We found it a bit more conservative than Hong Kong, and not quite as friendly as elsewhere in China. We stayed in an area of town called Chaoyang, just east of the Tiananmen Square and the capital’s center.

Some highlights of our stay in Beijing included strolling around ancient buildings in the Forbidden City, home to 26 emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties, snapping photos in Tiananmen Square, the world’s largest public square, people-watching in the shopping district, and eating Beijing’s specialty dish, Peking Duck.

All of this was great, but nothing compared to the afternoon we spent exploring the Great Wall of China. On a clear and sunny day, we visited a less touristed and extremely steep part of the wall, Mutianyu, which was built during the early years of the Ming dynasty (a very long time ago). This 3-km section of the wall provided an up-close look at some of the wall’s watch towers and a nice view of the surrounding mountains. We were impressed and took a lot of photos. Some of our favorites are below.