This clean and grand city was our jump off point for North Korea and our homeward flight so the place feels very familiar now. We were lucky enough to find an extremely friendly hostel in an attractive hutong (quarter with old style buildings) so it feels like home from home. And like home, each time we arrived, we launched into Starbucks (for me) and sushi (for both of us). We've also had out fair share of extremely tasty Beijing duck restaurants where I actually acquired a liking of crispy duck skin dipped in sugar, not one of my most healthy acquisitions.
The sights such as the Forbidden City and the Heavenly Park, grand though the names and histories are, were unfortunately a mild distraction from the day to day affair of finding food and curios and the legendary Shaolin Kung Fu show turned out to be some mediocre martial arts jumping around mixed with average love dances to fill the gaps.
The Great Wall did impress and we had a good couple of hours rambling on an unfrequented and crumbling section of wall. The mausoleum in Tian'namen square was an interesting sight containing Mao's soviet-flag-covered body looking especially orange and plastic that day and sporting a fantastic array of kitschy paraphernalia while stocks last - it's what he would have wanted and no less than he deserves.
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