Beijing and the Great Wall!

After Hong Kong, we went to Beijing for just two days. Beijing was not what I thought. I had not heard any good things about Beijing, but it was actually cool. The people were nice and the streets weren't small and congested like I had imagined. There are very few high rises, unlike Hong Kong. The bad thing though is that the pollution is so bad that if you live in Beijing your whole life you die 10 years earlier, and the sky is always grey. Our first day we went to the Great Wall, the coolest thing we saw on the whole trip. The Great Wall was built to protect China from Mongolian invasion, just like the Macau fort. I was walking along the Wall and spotted this GODLEWISKI'S BUNTING.

The Great Wall is very long, stretching for 10,000 miles.

Hey, is anyone familiar with this species of flycatcher?

Here is a shot of me and the wall. The wall is actually comprised of bricks and mud, and is wide enough to fit five horses in a row. 

On our second full day, we went to the Forbidden Palace where the former emperor of China lived. It's called the Forbidden Palace because for 500 years only the emperor and his guests could enter. If you stepped in uninvited, you would be immediately executed. Every building has at least one gargoyle on the roof. The more gargoyles on it, the more important the building.

We walked around the city for the rest of our day and I saw my life bird WHITE CHEEKED STARLING! This bird's closest relative is the Red Billed Starling I saw in Hong Kong. It feeds on fruit and insects such as Mole Crickets.

We did a quick stop at Wangfujing Snack Street before hitting our hotel. One stand sold starfish, seahorse and live scorpion on a stick. Blugh.

I was glad we came even though it was only for two days. The Great Wall was maybe the most amazing thing we saw on this trip!

Bird List For Beijing

Godlewiski's Bunting 1 life bird!
Azure Winged Magpie 1 life bird!
Eurasian Tree Sparrow X
Long Tailed Tit 1
Japanese Tit  4
Oriental Greenfinch 1
crow sp.
Rock Pigeon X
White Wagtail 1