Sightseeing began in earnest!

• Sightseeing began in earnest! We went to see the Forbidden City. It is really magnificent set of houses etc. But the most interesting issues were those historical fact I learned there. I did not know that the Chinese emperor almost never left the Forbidden city - it is rather strange way of managing a country - of course, travelling used be much slower in 1600. Also the approach of builing in ancient times seems to be valid also now: just gather more than enough workers and things get ready very fast. They got more than 1 million workers to build the F City.
• We had Beijing Duck in the famous ( ) Beijing Duck restaurant. We ate the food of precidents, chancellors, and dictators: Ahtisaari, Kohl, and Castro had been there before us. It was good and the beer there was even better.
• The Tianmen square is very windy, and I think the mausoleum of Mr. Mao spoils it!

Alun perin julkaistu koosteessa "Diaries 2003 Q1".