Day 50: Beijing (北京)

Duck and Dumplings
Charlotte unsatisfied with our first attempt at getting Peking Duck decided we would start off today with going to the original location of the most famous Peking duck restaurant Quanjude (全聚德) at Wangfujing (王府井).  I have to admit this one was much better than the branch of the same restaurant we went to the other day, but it was more expensive.  In addition to the duck they also bring out soup cooked from the duck bones that was also very good.  To make the meal even better, the receipts at a lot of Chinese restaurants have scratch off lotto games and we won ~$7.50!  The most important thing was we were actually full after this version of the duck as opposed to the other restaurant we went to.  Even though we were full we went across the street because Charlotte needed to try some famous buns from a restaurant Goubuli (狗不理包子) across the street.  Maybe it was because we were already full, but we did not think too highly of them.

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Cutting the Duck

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The ovens traditionally used for Peking Duck

Temple of Heaven (天壇)
After lunch we went to the Temple of Heaven (天壇), which was constructed from 1406 to 1420 and used for rituals all the way until 1911.  This temple was used as a place to pray and give sacrifices to the gods for good weather for the farmers.

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Temple of Heaven (天壇)

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The wall around one of the temples (回音壁), if no one else is there you can talk on one side and the people on the other side can clearly hear you

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Entering the prayer circle at the Temple of Heaven

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Charlotte fighting to stand on the center stone and pray to the heavens

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Around the courtyard

Summer Palace (頤和園)
After the Temple of Heaven we headed to the Summer Palace a large park area created around 1750 as a place for the emperors to spend their summers.  It was destroyed in 1860 during the Anglo-French invasion (英法聯軍), rebuilt and then destroyed again in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion (義合團).  We walked about half the park then spent our time at the area that has not been rebuilt after the buildings were destroyed in 1900.  

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Near the entrance to the park

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Destroyed Buildings

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Queen of destruction

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Water Cube(水立方) and Birds Nest (鳥巢)
After our time in the park we headed to check out the Water Cube (水立方) and Birds Nest (鳥巢) stadiums which were built for the 2008 Olympics.  After that we met up with Charlotte's friend for a drink before heading home.

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Water Cube and Birds Nest

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Just the Cube

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The Birds nest

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Up close of the birds nest

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After a lot of bland Chinese beer, found a good old favorite of mine