DAY 2: FORBIDDEN CITY, MONGOLIAN HOTPOT AND LOCAL AREA

The view outside my room looks amazing. Here you can see the Drum and Bell Tower from my window.I decide to try and learn to use the Beijing subway: I've been shown just once when my friend Mark showed me just as I arrived in Beijing.

What you see is the Drum and Bell Tower and someone's home.

Here are some pedicabs (rickshaws) nearby. They might be a great way to get around but are generally seen as something you have to be careful with about the cost!

 I feel that a good way to learn how to use the subway is to try and get to the Forbidden City: this is one of 2 planned visits as I hope to come when there are fewer people. I get 2 tickets the first time as I'm not sure which is the right one. Anyway you can buy one ticket for any journey and this doesn't cost much, about RMB4 which is 40p sterling. As its a busy day there are many police and soldiers around and I have to keep passing my bags through scanning machines: how annoying. But I accept it just as the locals do. You enter the Forbidden City via Tiananmen Gate, shown here.

This is Tiananmen Gate seen from the other side although the sun is a bit low in the sky. Also this is the Meridian Gate, where ceremonies had to be observed before invited visitors or residents entered. Ordinary citizens couldn't enter, hence the name Forbidden City. The Chinese now call the complex GuGong (Ancient Palace) while its officially called the Palace Museum.

Here is the Gate of Supreme Harmony. There are five bridges over a moat which cross over into a vast square. The gate has 2 bronze lions either side of it as guardians.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the centre of the complex. It contained the Dragon Throne where the emperors received visitors and issued edicts.

It forms the most spectacular part of the complex: a hundred thousand visitors could fit into this vast sqaure. It's also where new emperors were crowned.

Its hard to explain the feeling of emptiness inside the Forbidden City. It's difficult to imagine life here when it filled with concubines, eunuchs, servants, librarians, priests etc. Thousands lived here during the times of Imperial China, but the rituals, incense-filled atmosphere, sounds, music, and intrigue that filled it in those days can only be imagined now. As architecture it's unbeatable. 

Vats like this were filled with water for fighting fires. Below are some other beautiful features of the complex, I couldn't photograph all of them as my camera kept shutting down! I got some new batteries that helped. Inside the Forbidden City today are shops, restaurants and even  ATMs. I worry that it may one day become a market but hope not.

Here is one of the courtyards where the courtesans lived.

This is the Imperial Garden, a recreation area for the Imperial household. I couldn't get any more photos of this as my camera stopped working, and I was so disappointed as it's so beautiful! But you can always see more online and I hope to go  back soon!

Here is one of the corner watchtowers. You can see people walking on the frozen moat outside

.Seven and Christine arrived later and we went out for Mongolian Hotpot at a place they knew near my hotel!

Later I went to a bar and I drew these two locals, this girl and the boss of the bar! They made me very welcome and I had a wonderful day!

HOUHAI

I get back to the hotel, and decide to have a shower, change and go out for the evening. However I've noticed a strange knocking sound that seems constant and will certainly disturb my sleep unless I wear earplugs. I decide to live with it until I find that the shower doesn't work. I go downstairs and the reception girls (who speak English well enough to allow adequate communication) let me change my room to a much more quiet one which I prefer and which seems better all round!

Unfortunately in Chinese hotels there is some minor problem in every room, in this one the bedside lamp didn't work properly but I managed to fix it myself. After a succesful shower and change I go out for the evening, acutely aware that I;m by myself in a place where few people may speak my language. The district is alive with bars at night , but there are also many touts who come up to me saying "Hello sir, you want ladybar?" I just ignore them or pretend to be on my phone. The area looks magical  at night. I can hardly do it justice. Many of the bars have Karaoke blasting out of them as well!

The first bar I found becomes my favourite haunt, cheap and full of character, and the girl behind the bar speaks English. I draw pictures of some of the customers and this leads to some lively conversation: here is a lady whose picture I drew (she bought me a beer!) and I cured her hiccups too!

Here's the hutong outside my room:

In the WC of the  bar I find that there are some problems occasionally with the sewage network in Beijing:

BEIJING DAYS

Although the weather looks quite pleasant, its actually bitingly cold: something like -30C which is the coldest it has been in Beijing for 100 years! This unfortunately causes problems with my camera as it stops the batteries working! I decide to go around and explore some more, and quickly find the Drum and Bell Tower, but these are closed to the public today because of the cold wind. I don't mind too much as I've been in both of them before. The cold is so severe that if I take my gloves off, my hands will actually hurt.

BEIJING NIGHTS

For location, this hotel is hard to beat. Its in the hutong (alleyways) of Beijing right next to the Drum and Bell Tower, with Behai Park and Jingshan Park on your doorstep! (You can walk to Jinghsan through Behai) The Lama Temple is 3 stations away by subway and the nightspot of Houhai is right outside. A few minutes' walk away are the trendy bars and restaurants of the hutong. I have a little time before checking in so I find this charming bar right opposite the hotel.

Looking around for somewhere to have lunch I find this small Indian restaurant where the owner is actually

from India and the dishes are authentic (at least in spirit) although quite mild perhaps owing to the limited availability of some Indian spices in China. Anyway it was very good and a charming place.

I check into the hotel and find my room. It's quite pleasant. I unpack my things, and decide to explore the area a bit. I find to my joy that I am right next to the Drum and Bell Tower and there are bars everywhere.

Here's my room, with quaint old-style phone!

BEIJING DAY 1: ARRIVAL, DRUM AND BELL TOWER

Beijing Visit 1: Day 1 Arrival, Drum and Bell Tower.

Took the bullet train to Beijing for the first time today, enormous, sleek and silent, the fast train reaches speeds of up to 295 km/h. I treated myself to a first-class ticket this time, you get free nibbles and drinks on board! I guess its a similar distance to that between Leicester and London, but you can get there in 48 minutes instead of 2 hours: China's rail system is really impressive.

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The landscape flashes by outside and you really can't tell how fast you're going. The cabin is very confortable with small tables that fold out from the chairs. I feel very apprehensive travelling by myself in a foreign land but have faith that I can do it as I made it here in the first place!

I arrive at the station OK.

I get to the taxi rank and have a long journey to my hotel; here it is in the hutong (alleyways) in Beijing!

PREPARING TO TRAVEL

I'm getting ready now for my visit to Beijing and Xian by rail: plus the local markets which offer more photo opportunities. I've been working pretty much all the time on assessments for the year so have neglected photography a bit: maybe I can  pick up where I left off.

Not a day passes when I don't imagine holding Sarah in my arms: that's one thing I do miss about the UK!

I CREATE STORES

Here's the contents of my fridge, with perhaps not enough space for all the beer......