The Forbidden City was the home of the Chinese Imperial Family for centuries the flag stones we walked over at the entrance date back to the 1400's. It is called the forbidden city because it was forbidden for the normal people of China to enter. This is because the imperial family were considered god like and only they and officials were allowed inside. There are 5 gates into the forbidden city, they are all very large. Each one has 81 gold roundels on, represe...

After the Temple of Heaven, Shirley walked us through one of Beijing's largest Hutongs to a local restaurant where we had hand made dumplings. This was a 'proper' local eating house, as opposed to a tourist restaurant and the dumplings were gorgeous, although I don't think I'd have wanted to visit the kitchen! After tea we went to The Red Theatre to watch a show called 'The Legend of Kung Fu'. A high energy show that told the story of a small boy called 'Chung ...