Our early morning call was supposed to come at 6.30am, but we didn't get it until just before 7 - so we rushed about to get downstairs with packed bags for the day tour. Our first stop was the Rehe Imperial Palace (Bishu Shanzhuang) which was the spot that the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was filmed at. I haven't seen the movie, so intend to get a copy to watch once we get back to Perth. It was a beautiful place, and we were once again mezmerized by the intricate artwork which adorned every beam of every building, as well as the granduer of the place. Unfortunately our tour-guide for this section of the trip, Lily, was softly spoken and it was hard to hear some of the facts that she tried to tell us as we walked through this historical place.
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We then moved on to the Little Potala Temple, which was anything but little!! The tour-guide took us half way, then explained if we wished to go all the way to the top, we would do so of our own accord. Some of the members of the group took a ride up (two men carrying a seat on bamboo sticks) for the sum of Y20 (~$au4), and some elected to walk up, but Eunice, babe, Lawrence and myself were happy to stay at the halfway mark, with the majority of the group.
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After all this exercise, we stopped for lunch and had a Mongolian "Mutton Hot Pot" - this is similar to a Chinese steam boat, where the meat is placed on the table raw, and in the centre is a pot of boiling water. Meat and vegetables are placed in the pot, then removed and eaten and once again we were feed sumptuously.
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After lunch we proceeded back to Beijing, seeing more sights along the way, and arrived at our hotel (the Rosedale) quite late. Dinner for this day was not included, so we ate at one of the resturants in the lobby. Eunice and Babe took a walk around the hotel after this, whilst Lawrence and I had a drink in the Polo Club, before retiring to our rooms and packing for the journey back home, which was to begin at 5.30am tomorrow.
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