Venturing out.....

Began the day by persuading two lovely fellow interns to forgo sleep and head out into the city with me. (apologies boys- you have to beat jetlag somehow!)

Braving the Chinese underground (remarkably simple and colour coded) we headed across the city to Tiananmen Square. Mark commented that I was grinning like a child the whole time- its true! I still can't believe that I am here! We chilled out for a while with all the Chinese tourists (chill being the operative word here- it is f*****g freezing here). Note to self- never think gloves are an option, they are a necessity.

Me and the Chairman. Chillin'

Strolling into the Forbidden City we were distracted from the awesomeness of the whole building by the site of a man struggling with his boat in the moat- it had become stuck in the ice! While he and a friend struggled to dislodge the boat we did what all tourists should….

….take a picture

Was slightly nervous about taking pictures of the lovely men in uniform as they were flanked by stern looking fellas in all black with earpieces. That is until I saw one that clearly thought he was in Mission Impossible, complete with the black aviators and a pair of screaming red Nike trainers. Clearly the Chinese secret service haven't worked out a uniform yet!

So, the Forbidden city. Massive, we walked through the whole thing for about an hour without even coming close to the outside walls. You can believe it when you are told that some nobility never left its walls in the duration of their lives. We saw throne room after throne room after throne room. Apparently some of these buildings were for the emperor to rest in whilst travelling between meetings in their various other throne rooms! They all had of rather flowery names such as the 'Room of Eternal Harmony' and the 'Seat of Peace and Serenity'. But my favourite of all was located on the outskirts of the gardens….

…. in other words, the bookshop :)

Pottered about until we found a lovely place with a picture menu (they know us foreigners far too well) and got some chopstick friendly munch. In finding our way back to the hostel we became aware of the stares- as much for my height as for Brad's multiple facial piercings. A kind elderly gentleman stopped us to point us in the right direction and practice his english (he knew the word for 'flatter' so I was impressed!), and when I stepped towards him to look at the map he was holding he let out an exclamation that I assume translates roughly as 'Holy cow, a giantess!'. I feel special in this country :)