is there poodle in my noodle

This morning we set a 4.30am alarm to catch the iconic raising of the flag in Tianeman Square, a tradition dating back to 1949 to mark the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Thousands flock to watch this one-minute event each morning. As we watched the flag being hoisted, excited spectators sung along to the national anthem and jostled to get to the front. 

To our amusement it turned out Jem’s milk bottles were the star attraction. We are, so far, some of the only white faces we have seen in the city, and at times, one can feel like a specimen in a petri dish.

Our hotel is located on the southern side of the centre. Despite regular passport checks and bag x-rays at checkpoints entering most tourist attractions and every subway, we were struck by the fun and relaxed nature of the city. However, accessing the infamous Tianeman Square revealed a more sinister side. To enter the Fort Knox-esque square you must navigate layers of police, CCTV, soldiers and yet more CCTV towers which ring the square, with entry requiring a strict booking and vetting process, an extremely intimate search where my phone was dismantled and our backgammon board almost confiscated, and then all bags and belongings x-rayed.

The square has a dark and muted history, more of which can be found out about online. We understand that the Chinese youth have no idea what unfolded there in 1989; without a VPN it is impossible to access any information online, apart from the strictly controlled narrative permitted by the state.

Using WordPress is a proper headache, so I’ll photodump here in the hope they post (photos and words seem to disappear without rhyme or reason). Tomorrow on to the Forbidden City and Tianeman Square ❤️ 💙 💜

We lost eight hours on the flight over, many hours of sleep, and all my bank cards. We quickly learned some fancy interprative dance moves, which we executed with gusto on airport security, who kindly jumped in a bus and retrieved my purse from underneath seat 44G. Elated and excited, we jumped straight onto the metro.

Beijing is not what we expected. It is full of colour, kindness, and adventure. The streets are, for the most part, single-story old-fashioned street vendors; a mixture of vibrant 10 yuan (£1) tat stores, old world tailoring shops, 1950s department stores and a myriad of food stalls. No hassle, no haggling, no heckling – just welcoming smiles and excellent dumplings. And all of your cat-in-a-basket needs met.

Communication is undertaken via Google Translate – no one really speaks English with any fluency and it is quite normal and accepted to be using a smartphone as the middleman.

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A particular highlight for me was testing out our Smart Loo which not only has a warmed seat and remote control, but also ejects an exciting and exacting jetstream of warm water right up your undercarriage

We toured around the city tonight to see the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower, built in 1272 during the Yuan Dynasty as a central time keeping structure; a public clock to the city.

We also found an excellent pool bar where Jem refused to run around the table naked despite getting seven-balled.