Beijing

This is our hotel, the Shatan, located just a few blocks from the Forbidden City. We loved our beautiful small hotel which had a most comfortable king-size bed as well as other amenities. Such small comforts are often lacking in Chinese establishments unless one stays at a Shangri-la 5-star.

This is the street where the hotel is located. Despite the location, it has a small-town feel. The name for such a locale is "hutong", which sort of means barrio or 'hood.

Living by a hutong was a very nice as we could eschew the tourista (read: overpriced) cuisine in the hotel or nearby gringo restaurants and get food off the street. (Well, not off the street (yuck) but from sidewalk vendors.) We have decided the Chinese are the French of the orient, i.e. they demand good food and they get it. The only problem with eating in China is the huge portions served with the expectation that you never eat it all as that is implying the host was stingy. This tradition flew in the face of us lifetime Clean Plate Club members, who were always scolded when young that we must never waste food as people were starving in, well, China. Most of the cuisine was fabulous as we bear witness to our expanding waistlines!

While walking down the street, Cap'n Hub fell in love with the quintessential Chinese conveyance, the tricycle rickshaw. This one is hauling fruit, but some carry people and others carry anything one could imagine. The fruit in season appeared to be many varieties of cherries which we sampled on the way to Tibet. Since we heard that train fare was low on our foodie scale, we opted to buy all kinds of delicious fresh fruit which was a treat on the Lhasa Express!

This one, motorized and enclosed, is used by a disabled person. It is both practical and economical.

Here's a typical street scene near the Forbidden City, showing the typical collection of conveyances. People still ride lots of bikes and you can also see both human and gas-powered tricycles in this shot. Actually, the purpose of this picture is to show the black Buick on the left. We were amazed to see so many Buicks on the road; GM still has cachet over here. With this ballet of cars, trucks, bikes, rickshaws and various other small vehicles, it was a wonder there were so few accidents.

OK, you're probably tired seeing street life and want something more historical, like the Forbidden City.