beijing part 1

our first full day in beijing was jam packed with amazing sites.  unfortunately i didn't remember ever learning about china in school, so i had no idea what any of these sites were.  therefore we were the dorky tourists that hung on our tour guide lisa's every word.  i was also guilty of sidling up to her while we were walking to ask her a million more questions about things. this girl knew her stuff.  i now feel like an expert on china, so i may have to throw in a few random facts here and there.  forgive me.

first disclosure.  i am definitely NOT a photographer and have no natural knack for taking pictures. i did the very best i could, especially considering it was so smoggy there that it felt like we were walking through fog all the time.  just know if you don't want to go to china after seeing my poor quality pictures, you should google some good ones because i PROMISE it is amazing over there! and you could learn about the history of china while you're at it ;)

tiananmen square   

the square was ginormous (it can hold a million people!), and is usually jam packed.  but luckily for us, the tourists who decided to come to china in the dead of winter, it wasn't busy at all!

the forbidden city

so only the current emperor, his family, and his servants could live in the forbidden city and for 500 years no one came in or out. unless they were bringing in a new concubine for the emperor. he had 3000 of them and would choose a new one every night, and if she didn't get prego on the first try he would make her sterile.  rough.

 check out that smog ^^^ on the news they said beijing had the worst air in the world, and that it was hazardous and people should stay inside. oops.

rickshaw ride

beihai park & buddhist temple

deep fried scorpions and seahorses. ^^^ mmmmmm

i love me my starbucks, especially in china! ^^^

wealth, good luck, and prosperity is coming our way, ^^^ all thanks to buddha's belly 

peking duck dinner

yes all this food was amazing.  hands down my favorite meal in all of china. i've never eaten duck before and i probably never will again.  just know if you ever go to china, make sure you get the peking duck or else your life will not be complete.  

sick of china yet?  i'm sorry!  i know it is picture overload.  but this blog is my journal and i want my 2013 blog book to be even MORE legit than 2011-12's.  so bear with my through just a few (hundred) more china pictures and then i promise to never mention china again.