Today was the sights inside Beijing - Tiananmen Square. The Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace...

Tiananmen Square - we all remember the 1989 events and there is something powerful about being here ... The tour guide was excellent, although is unable to tell us exactly where the events occurred, it was never reported here, he has heard about it...

The square is surrounded by security, all our bags are scanned and inspected for political protest information and also for acts against the government... There a fire extinguishers everywhere, apparently it is common for people to set them selves on fire in protest of the government.

The square is surrounded by government buildings as well as the chairman Mao's temple and remains... It leads to the gates of the Forbidden City....

Apparently I am a celebrity here in China... As soon as I get out of the car people come up to me to take photo...

Forbidden City - the old city walls three of them in total each 20 meters thick and solid... Massive fortress protecting the emperor and his family... In total there was 9000 rooms, in the forbidden city, and a total population of 16000....

The Temple of Heaven is the place of worship for the emperor... The ceremony involves lots of presentations to the gods... Including wine, seeds grains, and animal sacrifice... The caucus would be in the ceremony... Te emperor would wear blue, to symbolize that he was the closest on earth to the gods...

The Summer Palace - the vacation home of the emperor... Amazing gardens and the 736 meter corridor.. Really 736 meters and each rafter is painted with a different painting, over 8000 in total...

Amazing beautiful day... Weather was brilliant... Food has been great....

Tomorrow is shopping, Tuesday is the Great Wall...

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