levels - apparently the equivalent of 70 cigarettes a day - made me
feel stifled for the first couple of days but now I can breathe
again. The crowds and crowds of people that we encountered around
Tiananmen Square will hopefully get less as this weeks public holiday
is coming to an end. The country has been celebrating the 60th
anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China. People seem excited and
happy - a lot of flag-waving and national enthusiasm. It certainly
looks good to the eye of a new visitor - everything smart and clean,
very little litter, no potholes, no homeless people, and lots of keen
volunteers looking after the public. One of our guides however told
us they are not allowed to discuss politics with us and explained that
everything's been cleaned up for the celebrations. It's hard to get a
true picture.
But we are just tourists - and we have thoroughly enjoyed walking
along the great wall (a short section of it), visiting the ancient
sites like the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace,
and the food!!!!! If you avoid the scorpion or seahorse (:(() kebabs,
the food on offer is absolutely delicious. There is so much variety
in Chinese food and our ordering is a bit pot luck, so we have eaten
loads of different things. Thankfully our stomachs our holding out at
the moment.....
Tomorrow we will attempt to find a church, and then take the night
train to Harbin in north east China.
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