Beijing - Tuesday 01 May

After a long flight and a solid nights sleep for all, we set off in the morning on the first adventures of our trip. We stopped for some breakfast at a restaurant/gallery that had some very intersting arty peices, including some large glass sculptures that looked rather like large breasts pop art style - and there were many of them throughout the place. The bathroom hand basins were interesting - they were sculptures of womans butts and legs in highheels bent over and joined to the hand basin. A very funky look, and there were three of them in different bright colours.

With food in our bellies we set off in search of the Forbidden City which is the largest and best-preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. It was home to two dynasties of emperors, the Ming and the Quing, who rarely strayed from this pleasure dome, although it was off limits to everyone else (thus the name). The palace is huge and includes 800 buildings and over 9000 rooms and is under constant renovation.

On our trek to the huge main entrance of the Forbidden City we were the only 4 westerners amongst a million chinese people (this week is holiday week and apparently they are all touring). We were stared at by every one of them. I suppose a freckled brunette, a very tanned brunette, a long blonde and a redhead all of above average heights are a commodity in this city. Our foreign status became very apparent when a young chinese girl stopped Katie - the tall blonde of the group, and asked to have a photo with her. She took Katie's hand and held it while her friend snapped away. She was beaming with excitement about her photo, thanked Katie and bid her farewell - smile never leaving her face. Throughout the day, we were all stopped for photographs by at least 25 groups of chinese people. Some weren't bold enough to actually come and ask us for the photograph so they snapped away from afar. We had our backs to the main sea of people at one stage, whilst buying tickets, and when we turned around two boys were standing hugging each other in front of us while their parents took photos. We felt like Rock Stars!!

We lined up for quite a while in the scorching heat to purchase our tickets to the Forbidden City and finally found our way in to this colossal place. Before long a couple of us needed the washroom badly, but had no idea of what we'd have to deal with. We were ushered into a long makeshift outdoor area that was made of sheets of tin. On entering we were faced with having to squat over a concrete hole, that was in a long line of holes with absolutely no doors. When in Rome hey!! aarrrgghh...since then it has been a gamble as to whether every place we visit has a hole in the ground or a western toilet. Unfortunately due to the heat being over 28 degrees each day and the amount of water you have to drink to keep hydrated, there is no holding on.

Speaking of holding on, no-one expects the young children, especially the boys to hold on. It's public urinating everywhere. Disgusting! The un-toilet trained youngens wear crotchless pants...you got it...crotchless! We witnessed the first set of crotchless pants in the Palace of Preserving Harmony in the Forbidden City where a young boy stood up in the middle of a public place to urinate while his family stood in a circle around him. They all clapped when he finished. Adding to our culture shock was everyone felling the need to spit and bushman blow wherever they felt the need. And no-one has any curtousy for others - pushing, shoving and bumping into others is all acceptable. I suppose it becomes a necessity in a city the size of Belgium, holding near to 14 million people.

Anyway the Forbidden City was huge and a good introduction to Beijing. After that we went in search of some food and found a street vendor selling all sorts of meats on a stick. We decided on Octopus on a stick which they quickly fry on an open hot plate then cover in some spicy goo. Delicious. We then hiked up Prospect Hill and sat on some rocks looking out to the vast city that is Beijing. It was a nice view.

Tianamen square was our next destination which took us from the north side of the Forbidden City to the south side. It was a long hike, made even longer by bad directions and tiredness setting in. We posed for more photos along the way, dodged the bushman blows, stepped over the children urinating and finally found the grandiose slab of paving stones at the heart of Beijing. It is the symbolic centre of the Chinese universe, a modern reconception by Mao to project the enormity of the Communist Party. His giant portrait still hangs over the Gate of Heavenly Peace flanked by the slogans 'Long Live the People's Replublic of China' and 'Long Live the Unity of the Peoples of the World'.

After 12 hours of walking we made our way back to the hostel, freshened up then caught a cab to the most famous Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant for Peking Duck. Katie the vegetarian was even up for eating the Peking Duck. What an experience it was. In true Chinese style, there were millions of people everywhere and lined up waiting for an available table. Waitresses were screaming numbers down a microphone to usher the next group to a newly vacated table. Our rock star (or foreigner) status came in handy and when we asked for a table for 4 we were immediately pushed straight to the front of the line and straight in to the restaurant. We ordered duck liver salad, pork elbow, mushrooms and pinenuts, Chinese beer and a whole duck. Within 2 minutes our food was on the table and within 5 we had our own chef carving the duck in front of us. We had two waitresses who stood at the table and showed us how to compile the duck, sauce etc in either small pancakes or lettuce. The meal was absolutely delicious and the best duck i've ever eaten. The best bit was that it only cost us $60 which included the meal, drinks and the return cab ride.

The girls have been shocked by Beijing so far and pushed completely out of their comfort zones, even being seasoned travellers. I haven't been as shocked, although was expecting it to be a little cleaner.