Beijing 2017, part 3 - not as expected

After the Summer Palace, we got caught up on a part of Beijing we missed on our first day - starting with the Lama temple

The Lama temple is the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet, and home of the Panchan Lama as well as the largest Buddha carved out of a single sandalwood tree - roughly four stories tall.

From the Lama Temple we hiked to the Drum tower and Bell tower - These two imposing towers (which were the official timepiece of Beijing until 1924) were sadly closed for the week for maintenance, but the kids made the most of the large square between them.

The Drum and Bell towers are nestled into a part of residential Beijing that is undergoing some controversial re-development, as their status as a tourist attraction comes in conflict with quaint neighborhoods like this one:

Leaving the Drum and Bell Tower square, we prepared to hunt down a taxi, and instead met with a friendly tuktuk driver, who assured us we could all fit into his vehicle. We swerved through car lanes, and bike lanes, scraping by with centimeters to spare. Zoom!

The next day we had booked a trip to the GREAT WALL OF CHINA. That's right, you've heard about it since elementary school, though much of what you've probably heard has been myths propagated by (or for) tourists. The section we were scheduled to tour, the Mutianyu section, is known for gorgeous views, and fun alpine slide down from the ridgeline.

The day dawned rainy, gloomy, and gray...and stayed that way. We soldiered on, and I am so proud of team SingaBorchert for keeping in good spirits despite the rain.

Well, we were able to see the wall itself, but will have to depend on Google to show us the gorgeous views...now that we're on the right side of the great firewall.  At the very least, we were able to get out into the countryside and get a glimpse of China that was very different from the Beijing urban experience.

Next up: Back to Beijing for the Forbidden City!