The Forbidden City - Temple of Heaven

After a good night sleep I packed my things and went out to explore two of the most popular attractions of Beijing. I started by walking through the Tian´anmen Square, where I bumped into a few Chinese tourists who wanted their photo taken with me. When someone is brave enough to ask you for a photo, you just can´t say no. It´s a bit uncomfortable when you see that people are taking pictures of you and not asking for permission first, but I guess that´s just something to get used to. I spent roughly two hours walking through the Forbidden City, including the Imperial Garden. When I finally got through, I decided to head towards the Jingshan Park and up towards the Wanchun Pavillion, the perfect peak over the Forbidden City. 

The sightseeing did´t stop there. Straight after coming down from the peak, I continued walking down a street next to the Forbidden City, had some street food at Donghuamen Food/Night Market. The market full of street food stands serving everything from scorpions, ducklings, you name it. A friend of mine told me to try the scorpions, so I decided to give it a try and honestly, I was a bit disappointed. The scorpions tasted like crispy fat. 

After a quick lunch I took the subway down to Tian´anmen Station to see the Temple of Heaven. Before heading up to the temple, I saw a part of the Chinese culture that I wish I could experience more back home. People of all ages gather in parks to play cards, board games, or any kind of activity or game. Teenagers might do this in Finland, but when you get older you are stuck at home watching TV alone or with your significant other, how boring is that? Anyway... The temple was amazing! Temples get boring after a while, since they all look the same. I definitely had to take it all in and realise the history behind it, the beauty and how much work someone has put into it. 

What a long and exhausting day! When I finally arrived to the hostel Ani, Steve and myself went to a nearby restaurant to try rosted duck, which is a common dish here. It was delicious, and so lovely to have someone to share a dinner with.