20th October – Beijing, China

I’m now a Weixin user, having linked my Chinese number to my WeChat account. They’re the same but different. Hopefully, we can use the full functionality of the mini apps now. I made full use if this by ordering a coffee, although this may have already functioned. Either way it worked and warmed and woke me up! It’s chilly again today. It was about 5C when we headed out, although it did warm to 9C later. This cold spell should end in couple of days’ time.

First stop was Jingshan Park. This is the hill to the north of the Forbidden City, created when the moat around the palace was dug out. Along the central axis, the palace and government buildings stretched out to the south, with quite a crowd taking photos. To the north, the Bell and Drum towers could be seen in the opposite view to what we’d seen a few days previously.

Amongst the crowds, we spotted many further examples of a fashion phenomenon. This is where English words or brands are misspelled, but very purposefully and maybe knowingly. My first guess at the origin of this is a parody of the poor-quality fakes that often popped up here a decade ago. Even Western fashion brands seem very in on it. I’m going to try to find out more about this!

From here, we picked up our first city bus in Beijing to the Yonghe Lamasery (sometimes called the Lama Temple). This the is largest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of the Tibetan region and the first we’d ever visited. We took our complimentary incense and headed through the gate tor the smoky courtyard. Each person lit three of their sticks before praying to each direction whilst holding them against their foreheads. People then waited their turn to kneel on platforms, praying again in the same way towards the Buddhas situated in the building in front. Finally, before entering, the burnt incense was dropped into a huge decorative metal censer. This process was repeated for each successive building. Similarly to the Forbidden City, the temple had main buildings on a central axis and ancillary buildings to each side. The Buddhas were incredible, gold in colour and growing in size and decoration with each temple. This culminated in The Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses and an astonishing 18-metre-tall Maitreya Buddha, somehow carved from a single piece of white sandalwood. As with all Imperial buildings, the number of beasts lined up behind a man-riding-Pheonix and in front of the Imperial Dragon on each roof corner denote the importance of the structure.

We wandered the nearby Hutongs before stumbling across the Confucius Temple and associated Imperial College Museum. This is in honour of one of the most important philosophers, and indeed people, in Chinese history. His ideas and teachings have shaped millennia of political leadership and societal norms. We didn’t have long until closing time but we able to walk the long rooms and verandas of the College Museum, where all aides and officials of multiple dynasties trained to pass the official entrance exams.

Kaja had seen that there was an all you can eat vegan buffet in centre and today, having not had lunch, we were going to take advantage of it! First, we had to get through a police check to access the area as it was near Tiananmen. The options were incredible! We were given a mushroom soup on a stove to cook different vegetables, bean protein, and fake meats in. There was also an area with dozens of foods on sticks, again mainly tofu and other proteins with different flavours and batters. The highlight though was a long central table with 130 (!) dishes showcasing seemingly the entirety of Chinese cuisine. We ate way too much. I had two full plates and didn’t scratch the surface of the available options! There were also multiple teas and fresh juices – my favourite being mango and pomelo. We still weren’t finished there though, as we tried a dozen mini desserts, such as mochi, sponge cakes, and a sweet potato and cocoa steamed bun. We regret not coming here before now! My chopstick skills vanished halfway through. I find this such a tenuous skill. I’ll be doing completely fine for most of the meal but then seemingly instantly forget it entirely!

We’ll be sad to leave Beijing. We could’ve spent another week here but there is a vast country to explore! It feels like a very liveable city in this shoulder season period. I’m sure we’ll be back, perhaps for a little longer.