Tian An Men Square Take 2

After spending most of the day and afternoon at the Temple of Heaven Park we walked to Tian An Men Square hoping to get there in time to take in the view from Tian An Men that Lonely Planet suggested. What looked like a short walk on the map, actually took over an hour. We thought we would walk it in hopes of finding something to eat on the way. But we walked for blocks not finding anything. Finally got to a small shop and Tommy sent me in while he stayed outside. I had know idea what to even order. Tommy noticed almost everyone inside the shop was eating these little sandwiches. And for the first time during my whole time in China, I had to do the point-and-order. So I pointed and asked what is that? The guy answered and I still had no idea what he said. But we were both starving, so I just asked for two to-go. Once outside we both scarfed down the sandwiches right away. It tasted almost like a chinese corn beef hash. Tommy says it one of the best sandwiches he's ever had, but know that I think of it I am sure hunger played a factor into that.

The sandwiches were great but Tian An Men was not even in sight and we were still hungry so we had to stop into KFC for a quick bite.

After lunch we continued walking to Tian An Men. We walked through a new Old Town, so new none of the stores were open yet. I can imagine it being a big tourist trap in the future. At one point it was getting close to closing time for the Tian An Men but we walked around in circles trying to cross the street just getting more and more frustrated not being able to find a way to get across. When we finally got there, we couldn't find the entrance, once we did we found out that it was closed already. After all that time we spent walking we missed it again. At least we got to see the soldiers walk out.

Afterwards we went to the mall by Wang Fu Jing Street. We bought some snacks for out trip the next day to the Great Wall. And walked almost the entire length of the mall to find a bank atm. It was actually pretty interesting because on the far end they had a few car dealerships right inside the mall.

When dinner time came around we took a walk around the food court. It was easy to decide what to eat since just about everyone there was having the same thing. They were all eating from a giant silver bowl. We just had to find out which stall it came from. Then we had to figure out how to order. We watched a few people in front of us order. They have a bunch of vegetables all layed out and some meats. Just pick out what that you want to eat,then they weigh it and you pay. When you pay they ask how spicy you want it, and then they stir fry it all with some red hot peppers. It was so spicy for Tommy he was tearing up a bit. I was able to handle the heat since I dabbed off some of the chili oil before eating it. You can get an idea of what it was like from the picture.

Actually this was after we picked away all the good stuff. All that is left in the picture is the hot peppers.