Day 8…again…

Performances were now over and it was time to explore the country and be tourists. Our first site was the Forbidden City. It was closed to all but the royal family and their servants for centuries. It is almost 200 acres and everything is built on what seems to be too large of a scale. It is a very…business-like place. There is a small section of garden, but the rest of the palace is devoid of trees and other plants. This was apparently done out of fear of assassins lurking in the bushes. Our tour guide Sam, who had met us at the airport, showed us around.

Afterward, we took a tram part way into downtown Beijing and then walked the rest of the way. We spent the afternoon wandering around a western style mall and some other stores nearby. I would of preferred something more…Chinese, but it was nice to relax for a few hours. When we got back to the hotel we started packing since we were checking out in a couple of days and Opening Ceremony was the next night.