Vice President Joe Biden wasn't the only important person in Beijing this past weekend. The Firestone family, Matt, Sasha, Theresa and yours truly travelled to Beijing this past weekend to take in the sights and sounds of China's capital and surrounding country (The Great Wall of China).
Other than having our reservations at the St Regis cancelled at the last minute because Chinese security wanted the whole hotel empty except for VP Biden and his entourage, we had a great time. Our stay at the Westin in a pretty swank suite (No one cancels a confirmed reservation that I have and gets off lightly) was great but be forewarned if you are visiting Beijing. Traffic is like nothing you have ever experienced. It is possible we spent more time in our minivan than we did touring. And nothing in Beijing is in walking distance to anywhere. You have to drive.
That said we did all the tourist stuff from the Forbidden city and Tienanmen Square (where our guide said it is rumoured there is a soldier, police man or secret service person every ten meters)to the Great wall of China and everything in between including having a Peking Duck dinner and watching undercover police arrest and take away a man dressed as Donald Duck at the Bird's Nest Stadium - go figure what that was all about.
The Great wall is indeed amazing and well deserves to be classified as one of the seven wonders of the modern world and something you have to see if you visit Asia. The toboggan ride down from the Great Wall was almost as exhilarating as the view at the top of the wall.
Finally how could I not comment on the night food market - as the old Campbell Soup commercial says hmmmmm hmmmm good!! We were tempted but just could not get the nerve up to go for it. The picture in this post says it all..... we had a great time in Beijing.
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