Trip Report: Beijing

After hiking the gorge and wandering around the old town, we had run out of things to do in Lijiang. We would have enjoyed visiting Jade Dragon Peak. There is a chairlift that goes up the mountain. Then you can take a horse or yak ride through a meadow to another chairlift to some glaciers and the top. But a few days before we arrived, there had been a tragic chairlift accident. Three foreigners had fallen off the lift; their bodies were still missing. The lift was closed and, even if it were still open, I wouldn’t dare get on it.


So we decided to seek out a travel agent and get out of town. There was too much dissent and not enough time to really visit Sichuan so we decided to go straight to Beijing. We found a travel agent and got an ok plane fare for next day tickets.
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Our travel agent was cheerful and talkative and four months pregnant. She said to me, “I hope my baby looks like you.” Like me? The kid would be a freak here if it looked like me. I asked her if her husband has red hair. She said “No. He’s Chinese. But I hope our child had light skin and a big nose like you.” Oh my.

The next morning we caught a flight to Beijing.

The changing of the guard in front of the forbidden city


mike and mao


kites in tiennamen square



mike in front of the ancient city gates

the next day we explored the city separately.