Day 2

Today we had no guide and went for a LONG walk -in the rain, to the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square. They are across the street from each other and it took about a half hour to get there from our hotel. It was like visiting Disney World, SO many people! Just a mass of humanity visiting these sites. It was so crowded in both places even though it was raining. Nonetheless, we managed to somehow get big bullseyes on our backs that said, Foreigners, lost and have money!" We were approached every few steps we took at the Forbidden City with people trying to sell us stuff or offer to be our guide. We did break down and buy a few Olympic Souvenirs and 2 umbrellas. The Forbidden City is huge and we kept walking through huge courtyards with the palace built on the walls all around it. We didn't pay to go through any of the museum parts becuase it seemed to be all in Chinese and we wouldn't understand it anyway. On the outside of the City is a huge picture of Mao ZeDong. It was kinda like seeing a huge picture of George Bush over the front of Washington's Mount Vernon home.
Across the street at Tienanmen Square there were also throngs of people on just a large expanse of concrete, not sure why people gather there, there is no place to sit, it is heavily guarded and patrolled. It doesn't seem like the government encourages "hanging out" there yet people do. It was also a tribute to Communism and Mao ZeDong. There was a huge monument in the middle of the square that was a tribute to the common man. Here's a picture of Brent in Tienanmen Square with the monument in the background.

We walked back to the hotel in the rain, stopped at the mall we found last night and ate KFC for lunch. We'll probably go back there for dinner, not feeling brave on the cuisine yet. :-)