The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was huge.  We didn't have the patience to see everything.  It goes on for blocks and there is a ton to see.  The Audio Guide is a must and it's a good idea to bring a travel book that covers it at least a bit.  The signs around the city were not real informative, at least in English they weren't.  About half way down the main area there is a small cafe where you can get sandwiches, snacks, coffee, or other drinks which was a nice break.  To me the highlite was the garden at the far north end of the city.  We actually skiped the west side of the City because we just got tired of being there. 

After leaving the City we went to the park behind it where there are several temples and a big hill that overlooks the City.   It was a lot of walking but well worth the effort. 

We took a cab to the Pearl Market and had a small lunch at KFC (yes Kentucky Fried Chicken.)  We saw several KFC's in every city we visited.  I wondered if they were more popular than McDonalds in this part of the world.  This market also allowed for great bargining.  It was 5 stories tall but we only spent time on the first three.  I got some great deals on t-shirts, and Kim got another purse here.   We went to a major mall area which was neat to see.  The official Olympics store was here for shopping and we went to a chinese restraunt.  This was a neat experience because we sat next to a group of mean chinese who kept yelling at the waitress.  She finally yelled back at one point and slammed the door to our dining area on them.  Very out of character because it is said that you should not express anger like that in China. 

From there we made our way back to our hotel...excited to see the Great Wall Tomorrow.