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Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China has
been described by tourists as China's largest theme park;
for the Chinese it is the 'Promised Land' with its lure of
prosperity.
Tiananmen Square, the former stage of Cultural
Revolution rallies and now a place of recreation is where
we begin this journey to the beat of the daily flag-raising
ceremony where PLA soldiers are drilled to march at 108 paces
per minute, 75cm per pace as the sun rises. Not far away lies
the largest and best preserved group of ancient buildings
in China, the Forbidden City, kept out of
bounds for 500 years by the Ming and Qiung dynasty emperors
and now a place that welcomes visitors. Following a climb
to the roof of the Ancient Observatory for
a great view of the city, we sample Mao's revolutionary cooking
prepared by his townsfolk whilst admiring the grounds of the
Lama Temple, the most colourful in Beijing,
with its beautiful gardens, stunning frescoes and tapestries.
Inside we look for the image of the Buddha having sex, formerly
used to educate Emperors' sons, and that evening carrying
colourful paper lanterns, we join revellers of the Lantern
Festival during the evening of the 15th day of the
first moon, before driving to the Longquin Gorge,
a canyon in Yanquin County about 60 miles north-west of Beijing
where we end our journey at Beijing's Ice Lantern
Festival amidst a colourful fiesta of ice and light.
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