So you're in a huge city with millions of people and crazy traffic and you want to see as much as possible in a short amount of time. What do you do? Take a side-car tour!
See how awesome we looked?
Tours with Beijing Sideways are the top rated thing to do in Beijing according to Trip Advisor. Well, I'm not one to pass up a top rated activity on vacation so for our first morning in China we jumped on this motorcycle/side-car combo and explored the city at a crazy fast pace! Our driver, Dillon, was a bit of a...free spirit...and well, he certainly added to the experience! Overall he was a pretty skilled driver and we only felt near death 2-3 times throughout the whole morning ;)
Check me out in the super cool bicycle helmet Matt suggested I wear about 5 minutes into the ride. Safety first!
Straight away Dillon took us up to the top of a hotel just minutes from ours for a killer view of the city! I got the impression that we weren't actually supposed to be up there, but we were quickly informed that a dollar goes a long way in China in convincing someone to let you do something you're not supposed to.
See all of the red roofs in the distance? That was our first glimpse of the Forbidden City!
The CCTV Building, also known as the 'Big Underpants' to locals. Fun fact - I noticed this building featured in the opening scene of the new Karate Kid movie that I watched on the way home from Beijing - so that makes this building all the more cool in my opinion ;)
After a few stops for a gas leak, oil leak and over heating (not to mention the bike's muffler had fallen off prior to Dillon picking us up) - hey, I said it was an adventure - we were well on our way...
A quick sweep through a local market led us to...
...the most delicious dumplings I've ever had!
We checked out the National Grand Theatre, aka, 'the egg'...
...and stopped for a quick beverage break at the Zhonglou Bell Tower - originally built in 1272, then rebuilt in 1420, then rebuilt again in 1745.
Our short, 4 hour side-car quickly came to an end and Dillon kindly dropped us off at the back entrance of the Forbidden City...the next adventure for the day!
My first peek at the Forbidden City...I was ready to go inside!
The Forbidden City, named for being off-limits to commoners for 500 years, was built during the Ming dynasty from 1406 to 1420. The emperors of both the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled from inside there and only left when they absolutely had to.
The place is absolutely huge! We got through in about 3.5 hours which I'm sure is considered a fast pace!
The details on each and every building inside are amazing. It is said that up to a million people constructed the Forbidden City and after seeing it, I don't doubt that fact!
Since we entered through the back, we of course, exited through the front entrance...
...and directly across the street from the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square, the world's largest public square.
A look back at the Forbidden City from Tiananmen Square.
After the side-car tour, a long walk through the Forbidden City and a stroll around Tiananmen Square, the only thing I had left in me to do was eat dinner. Lucky for us, Qianmen Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant was just down the road...which meant I was in for my first official try of authentic Peking Duck!
Like a couple of old folks, we made it to the restaurant by 4:28 p.m....
...so imagine our surprise when the line was out the door! #45 was our ticket in!
And here we have it, our own personal duck (we even got a duck I.D. card) being carved right at our table.
Nicely carved I'd say...
My duck wrap with all of the fixings...cucumber, sprouts, green onions and bean paste. You know what? I actually liked it! So it was either really good or I was just really hungry. I guess we won't know unless I go back someday ;)
And that ended our first full day in China! Exhausted and done, we made our way back to the hotel to rest up for the next day of touring the Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace...
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