With an early flight to Mongolia the next morning there was only one thing to do and that was go into full tourist mode, so we grabbed our cameras and headed to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was about 45mins walk from the hotel so luckily we got a tip from a random local girl to bring our passports or we would have been well pissed when we arrived at the security check point. At first I thought she was being friendly and wanting to practise her English until she offered us a "free" tour of a Chinese art exhibition. Funnily enough we got the same offer from another lady along the way who was far less gracious when we politely said no thanks.
The crowds weren't too bad, probably because only stupid people would choose to walk around massive grey concrete buildings and plazas in that kind of heat. The size of Tianemen Square and the surrounding buildings is certainly impressive. We didn't pay the extra to see the inner circle of the Forbidden City so we just walked around the outer circle. It felt a bit tacky with all the souvenir shops, a basketball court and coach loads of tourists.
After 15kms of walking around Beijing's concrete jungle we arrived back at the hotel only to be told we couldn't use the pool without having a bathing cap. Silly me, I usually always pack my swimming training gear when I go on holiday! I think two days in Beijing is plenty, it doesn't have a lot of character and more time would be a waste. Next stop Mongolia 🇲🇳
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