Day 02 - Saturday 14th May

The flight to Beijing was due to take off 20 minutes after midnight local time (or 2:20pm Sydney time). By that time, we were getting quite tired.

The plane was very old. There were no TV screens. After take-off, they offered us a small entertainment unit that was like a game machine with headphones. To watch a movie, you sat it on your meal table and fiddled with the controls below the screen. We didn't bother.

When Suzy did her research on the seats for this leg, she found that the seats recline slightly – nowhere near turning into a bed. It was like sleeping sitting up. Then again, it was much better that economy class because there was plenty of leg room. We managed to get a few hours of good sleep.

The baggage pickup and passport check at Beijing airport were quick and we got a taxi promptly to take us to the Park Plaza Hotel.

Although it was before 8am, the hotel had our room ready. I think it helped that I had joined their loyalty club – Club Carlson. It’s a very nice room on level 12.

After a shower and change of clothes, we took up their offer of a free cup of coffee on level 15. Then we consulted the concierge in the lobby and decided to book a tour for Monday to see some the key highlights.

Next we headed off on foot for Tiananmen Square which is about 45 minutes away. The plaza is located across the road from the entrance to the Forbidden City.

People told us that it is just a great big square and they were spot on. There were crowds of people everywhere including endless tour groups. Some were assembling to cross the road to go to the Forbidden City.

There are large impressive buildings on both sides of the square, several monuments and a huge flag pole with the Chinese flag guarded by symbolic sentries.

At the southern end of the plaza is a building that is a memorial to Chairman Mao. The queue for this building was very long. When we left, we realised that it went around the corner and I couldn’t see the end of the queue as it disappeared into the distance. It was even bigger than the opening of an Apple store.

We walked back to the hotel for a rest before catching a taxi to the acrobat show that we had booked online back in Sydney. The show was very impressive.

The hotel had told us to allow 45 minutes to get there but it had only taken 15 minutes. On the other hand, the trip back took us more than 45 minutes – partly because of the heavy traffic and partly because it took us 20 minutes to flag down a taxi that not only was available but also knew where the hotel was.

We reached the hotel in time for the end of the happy hour. We needed a drink to recover from the Beijing traffic. Next we had dinner at the hotel and retired early for a good night’s sleep after a hectic start to our holiday.