Part of a series of posts detailing my adventures in China exactly one year ago.
Extract from my journal:
Friday 2nd March 2007
Once again I’m tired after a busy day! It’s great to pack in a lot, but I’d like a bit more time to rest occasionally. Today’s itinerary included Tian’an Men Square (including Mao’s Mausoleum), the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace.
Visiting Mao’s mausoleum was a rather weird experience. The building is in the middle of Tian’an Men Square. We didn’t have to queue for long to get in: you have to hand it to the Communists that they at least can keep a queue moving! Outside, people were selling flowers to leave by Mao’s body. Apparently, when he died there was some disagreement between Moscow and Beijing over what to do with Mao’s body, so it took them a while to get started on preserving the body. Since it had already begun to decay, it is estimated that it’s around 90% wax.
The near-religious devotion to this dictator was rather creepy, and it was very strange to see the preserved body of someone who shaped history so much on display, someone who was undoubtedly a brave and intelligent man, but at the same time ruthless and willing for millions to die for the sake of power and the sake of his beliefs.
We then went into the Forbidden City. Unfortunately, parts of it are being done up for the Olympics next year, so we were unable to see them. What we did see was pretty impressive, though, and fortunately I was able to buy batteries at a fairly decent price. My camera guzzled through them though!
After a lunch of instant noodles in the Forbidden City (they seem to have closed the Starbucks – I didn’t spot it, anyway), we went to the summer palace. I listened to the L’Abri talk “The Importance of Asking Questions” on the way. The gardens were really nice, and would be peaceful if not for all the tourists!
This evening we went to the Peking Duck restaurant, which was delicious. Great fun, especially all the waiting on you. Had some good conversation with Dan about the meaning of life and stuff! Some of us then went to a night market near the Beijing Hotel, where Richard and some of the other lads ate grubs (no scorpions available!), as well as visiting a chopstick shop, before getting a taxi back to the hotel.
