First stop, Silk Market, a large modern shopping centre that opened in 2005, replacing the old alley-based Xiushui Market. Not for the feint hearted, over 1,700 vendors test your bargaining skills to the max.
From shopping heaven (or hell, depending on your point of view) to the Forbidden City. Our afternoon was spent exploring this wonderfully preserved imperial palace which was forbidden to ordinary people when it was home to emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Their residence was built as a replica of the Purple Palace where God was thought to live in Heaven.
Luckily for us we were able to enjoy this amazing place under sunny clear blue skies. The cold, however, still had a vicious bite that snapped at our toes and fingers and gave us all lovely rosy red noses to outglow Rudolph.