Ch 6: What do Castro and Yanni Have in Common?

Our first full day began just 2 hours after we went to bed the night before. Its easy to wake up early so far due to the 12 hour time difference. I hadn't eaten anything since I landed in Beijing last night. I've only had Beijing PiJiu (beer) but for some funny reason I wasn't hungry this morning at all. The morning was spent wandering around the Temple of Heaven in the southern part of the inner city. It was beautiful, very well laid out and a great place to hang around. One observation I've made is that Beijing (and maybe this is a summer thing) is a shirt optional city. When it get's hot people just take off their shirts. Not everyone mind you, mostly chubby middle aged dudes. That's how they roll around here.

My first meal was a great one. We had Beijing Roast duck at Qiamen Quangjude- a famous resturant that's been serving roast duck to Beijing for over 150 years. That's dedication and they know what their doing. I can say it's the best I've had. The duck is cooked perfectly over a wood fire and the chefs are like surgeons in the kitchen. The wall of folks who have frequented the establishement include Castro and the immortal Yanni. Yanni's picture was larger on their wall which struck me as funny.

As the late afternoon rolled around we walked through Tianamen Square in all it's large square splendor. It's huge and the crowds are constant. The forbidden city was a pretty cool place to walk around. It's well designed, cool and breezy in the summer heat and a great place to spend an afternoon. Quite a site.