A couple of days ago, when we were melting in the heat and sun in Xi’an, I was fantasizing about cool weather.  Cold would be SO much better than hot, I told myself.  Well, the weather gods listened with a vengeance.  Upon our arrival in Beijing this morning, we were greeted by temps in the 40s accompanied by a cold drizzle.

Parents out there may be aware that kids are not so good at listening when you tell them to dress warmly.  Many of our crew straggled out of the train wearing shorts, sundresses, T-shirts, and/or sandals.  I thought I had reasonable clothing — pants, sneakers, a fleece, and a raincoat — and I was STILL cold.

Who knew a saxophone was a “dangerous good”?

We were glad to get the chance to visit the Olympic village, though.  Unfortunately, the security checkpoint showed photos of a large number of forbidden items, which apparently included saxophones.  Or, rather, all musical instruments — so Mr. Ervin’s ever-present guitar got confiscated.  Apparently they’re not big on impromptu performances here.  (He got it back unscathed as we exited.)

Those of us of a certain age well remembered the Bird’s Nest Stadium, which looms above the large square outside it.  Some of the swimmers in our group were happy to get their photos in front of the Water Cube, used for all the swimming events.  We also saw the official Olympic rings and the tower that had held the Olympic flame.  (Also, there was a souvenir shop just outside the gates, which our guide told us had some of the best prices in China.  Zoe and I bought some chopstick sets here that we later saw at the Great Wall for four times the price.  And there was an American-style coffee shop!  I’m not sure what was the best part — the taste, the warmth, or the caffeine.)

After lunch, on the walk from the buses to our next stop, the rain started to pick up.  Several people stopped in a convenient shop to buy $2 umbrellas and rain ponchos.  It was an inauspicious start to our tour of the Forbidden City, one of the top tourist attractions in China.

Mr. Ervin had again struck terror into the hearts of the chaperones with tales of how the Forbidden City would be more crowded than anyplace we’d been (this seemed impossible), that it was a large area that was a virtual labyrinth, that we would not be coming back out the same entrance where we came in, and

basically giving us the impression anyone who blinked or took a wrong step would have to take up residence in the Forbidden City because we’d likely never find them again.  (I am beginning to think Mr. Ervin’s strategy for keeping everyone from complaining about anything is to set expectations very, very low.)  The plus side of the rain was that it was not very crowded at all, and we had no difficulty keeping track of our little family.  (They were mostly huddled under the nearest cover, shivering.)

The escalator had a mirrored ceiling

The Forbidden City was beautiful, though — a seemingly endless series of palaces and gardens covering about 180 acres.  (We walked straight through the broad path running down the center, so fears of getting lost in a labyrinth may have been overblown.)  The picture of all the bright umbrellas floating through the gardens gave the impression of a watercolor painting.  As with the other places we’ve been, the site has been meticulously restored in every detail.

In a moment of great incongruity, our next stop was a glittering area of luxury malls.  This is not something that I would normally have been particularly excited about, but at this point our group was just desperate to get inside and

So close, China, so close.

warm up.  (We also guessed, correctly, that they would have nice bathrooms.)  We were free to roam for a little while before dinner, so we checked out the indoor ski slope (small, because the surface moved on a conveyor belt), observed the virtual reality roller coaster ride, and enjoyed the giant escalator that went straight to the fifth floor.  Many of the shops had English names or phrases, but in some cases they just seemed to be random words strung together, and in others didn’t get it quite right (e.g. “Coven Garden” instead of “Covent Garden”, making the high-end shop sound like a witches’ den).

Dinner was at the mall, but did not turn out to be pizza and burgers.  We had passed a McDonald’s and  Pizza Hut in the same area earlier, so a few people had hope.  Still, there was a Dairy Queen in the mall, so that was something.  Dave got to enjoy a birthday Blizzard before heading back to the hotel.

For some reason, we weren’t able or weren’t allowed to see Tiananmen Square.  It wasn’t clear why, exactly — there is some kind of big political convention going on here so it might have something to do with that.  Mr. Ervin did have the buses drive by it on our way home, so a quick glimpse is all we got.

Our guides held these little stuffed animals aloft on poles to help us follow them through the crowds. By the end of the outing, Purple Bunny didn’t look so good.