Beijing with Andrew

After we arrived back from Yangshuo, Andrew hit some of the major tourist attractions in the mornings and then I joined him in the mid-afternoons after work.  On Wednesday he started with Tianenmen Square and the Forbidden City, and I joined him for a walk around the Temple of Heaven, which no matter how many times I return is always a relaxing part of the city.  As in so many places in Beijing, the juxtaposition of old and new is sometimes startling, as in this view from the Round Altar where the emperor committed sacrifices to heaven.  Afterwards we got Beijing-style hotpot, which was good but slightly embarrassing since neither of us knew exactly how to eat it and the waiter kept having to show us!

On Thursday, after having yet another stressful trip to the police station to register him in Beijing (who knew they would ask for his tickets to Guilin!) he accompanied me to work to get the grand tour.  In London, Andrew works in a radiotherapy department in a hospital, so he was interested to see the radiotherapy department at my hospital.  I'd never seen it either, so it was an interesting tour.  We just hoped to poke our nose, accompanied by a student, but in typical over-the-top Chinese nice-ness, my boss called the head of the radiotherapy department who arranged a tour for us.  Andrew soon lost me in questioning the resident about detailed radiotherapy things.  At the end, he said that my hospital (the best cancer hospital in all of China) is about at the level of your average hospital in the UK, with some things better and some worse, but lagging in technology to the US.  Interesting.  We had dinner with Adam/Alison and then went to an event with a expat group called 'ChocoJing' that basically involves chocolate.  We had several Belgian chocolate and beer pairings...mmmm, so good!

On Friday, Andrew went to the Great Wall while I went to work and then I introduced him to some of my friends afterwards at dinner followed by drinks in the Houhai area of town, around a beautiful lake.  We slept in Saturday morning (thank goodness!), then went shopping at the Pearl Market and to get Dim Sum at an awesome restaurant a little north of town.  We just missed the Yonghegong Temple closing, which I regret, since it really is a good introduction to what a buddhist temple looks like.  On his last day in Beijing, we did some more shopping, and went to the Ancient Observatory, which is where ancient emperors observed the heavens and stars and predicted the future.  There were also many instruments on display from more recent times, fabricated by visiting Jesuit priests in an attempt to woo the Emperors over to Christianity.

The Chinese astronomical regions.

My favorite astronomical instrument; it was a water clock of sorts called a 'clepysdra' - but i just liked the rabbit!

We ended out the day by enjoying savory Peking Duck at Da Dong Duck Restaurant, which was the perfect end to a great visit!

These are the duck chefs tending the hanging ducks in gigantic wood-fired ovens. The rack in the middle is for hanging the ducks after cooking to drip the fat away.