Day 48: The Biggest Day Yet

Tuesday 26th August, 2008

Today was a full-on day, and I'm feeling really content that I have done everything that I really wanted to do in the city of Beijing!

This morning I woke up really early (7am hehe) to lug my fridge downstairs and meet everyone in the lobby at 8am to go and see dead Mao's body in Tiananmen. When we finally got there it was around 9am and because you weren't allowed to take bags in we took turns visiting. As we walked through, it was rather creepy seeing a body in a glass case just laying there, but some people were very moved by it - even to the extent of shedding tears.

After Mao we hung out in the Square for a while, taking pictures with people and taking pictures of people - I'm pretty big in Beijing you know. The joke was made that if Brooke and I (who were both wearing our new 'Australia' shirts) set up shop in front of Mao's portrait in Tiananmen Square we could charge 20 yuan a photo and make a fortune!

We then went our separate ways - Brooke and Matt decided to come with me to visit the Temple of Heaven via subway while the others went to Beihai Park. The Temple of Heaven was amazing and I'm so glad I finally got around to going! When we got there though, the main temple was closed but no one would tell us why, just that it would not open until 12pm. I was thinking "just my luck" but then as 12pm rolled around and we were finally allowed to enter we were treated with a dress rehearsal of some ceremony for the paralympic games! What timing! We strolled through the rest of the park quite leisurely, then caught a cab to Hou Hai to meet some girls for lunch and go for a mani/pedi.

After much mucking around trying to find a place (because the one we were going to go to was booked out until 8pm) we eventually found an amazing underground shopping centre we never even knew was in Xinhua. Finally we found a place to go and it was relax time for the girls.

For dinner a lot of people went to Purple Haze (my fave thai restaurant), but I really felt like some good old Beijing Duck before we went. So in regal style (as we have been doing a lot of lately) Liz and Lucas and I went to a Beijing Duck Restaurant where they made us the most amazing meal I think I've had - it was definitely up there.

So now I'm back in my room trying to pack 2 months of living into one tiny suitcase and a carry on bag... it's packed within an inch of its life.