Hello City!

Phase two of my big adventure - Beijing. I'm here for a week, and it's pretty starnge suddenly being in a city and not being surrounded by either pomello tree plantations, rice paddies or chickens! So many buildings! And it's so vast! The guide book suggests getting taxis everywhere! It's odd to think I can't just walk from the supermarket to the restaurant to the local attraction to the bar then back to the hostel! It might take me a while to adjust!
Today I visited Prince Gong's palace (he wasn't an actuall prince, just a favorite advisor of the Qianlong Emporer). The first part was a complex of buildings the 2nd part was gardens. It was pretty impressive but packed full of tourists! It was hard to get near some of the exhibitions in the gardens. Then I walked along the lakes near where my hostel is but then in started to rain heavily so I quickly went back to the hostel for instant noodles and hot drinks! Tomorrow I'll go to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square!

Beijing, China