Last day inBeijing... Shop till we drop!!!

Wednesday 5th September

Today is our last day in Beijing. We started by watching thousands of people doing Tai Chi in the park near the Temple of Heaven. Some dancing, others using badminton bats and balls, others with swords and all to music. We joined in the dancing.

Next we visited the Temple of Heaven, constructed in 1420 by the Ming Dynasty. Here, the Emperor would go 3 times per year to ask the gods for a good harvest. On each occasion he stayed for a ceremony which lasted 4 days, ending with a massive sacrifice of thousands of chickens, pigs and cattle which were later burned as an offering to the gods.

Our next stop was the Pearl Markets where many of us bought new spectacles. They have a machine that you look into and it quickly measures your eye geometry. After choosing the frames and doing some hard bargaining, the deal is done. Two hours later the spectacles are ready. During that time we shopped for clothes, iPods, jewelry and watches.

This evening, after dinner at a Mongolian restaurant, we go the the railway station to catch the 9:30 pm sleeper to Lhasa in Tibet. We have just been told that our soft sleeper bunks, (4 to a cabin) were not available and we have to settle for hard sleeper (6 to a cabin) with a refund of the difference. Sometimes when travelling in this part of the world, things don't always go as planned, but at least we are ON the train.

As there is no Internet connection on the train, our next blog will be in a couple of days when we reach Lhasa.