March 25, Seeing how the other half lived during the Ming Dynasty

In Beijing..interenet intermittent..off on a tour. We solved the internet problem...yesterday was a travelling day..arrived , ate dinner and settled into our hotel. it's a 5 star....nice. Ate a buffett breakfast (had a western style one0 got on the tour bus for the Forbidden city. I have taken 8 pages of notes today. Our tour guide, June, has lived in beijing all her life. i have decided to do a photo album with notes for our trip when we get home. We arrived at Tian'anmen Square first. I must admit we were a little teary eyed. Massive and 80,000 people visit daily. Next to it was the moseleum  (sp?) for Mao...didn't go in because the Chinese line up for hours each day to see him. Behind this building is the Forbidden City..named because it was forbidden for any Chinese to enter the gates. it was only for the Emperor, his family and the 3000 concubines! If you went in, you would be beheaded. it was finally opened up to the people after Mao set up the Republic of China. It was used as the set for the movie, The Last Emperor. It's massive, 720,000 square feet., courtyard after beautiful courtyard after courtyard. Visited the emperor's Summer palace which is two thirds bigger than the Forbidden City but 80% of it is a manmdae lake to cool them down. Visited a famous tea House (Margaret Thatcher loved it), the Beijing Olympic 'bird's nest' stadium . Crowds were huge. Had another fantastic meal but both have colds so we're signing off.