Day four is the first full day of our tour.  So this meant getting started early.  Was up at 6 o’clock, downstairs for breakfast and on the bus by 8:30.  Our first stop was another visit to Tiananmen Square.  Today our bus dropped us off near the south end of the square where we saw the old gate into the city.  Then it was a walk across the square.  As we passed Mao’s mausoleum our tour guide Jack mentioned that there was some suspicion as to whether the body on display is really Mao…  Jerry and Doug were a little disappointed to hear that since they had gone through the trouble of seeing him yesterday.

Leaving Tiananmen Square, we proceeded north into the Forbidden City which is where the Emperors ruled from.  It’s a truly massive place and I’m sure you could probably spend a couple of days touring it, but we rushed through it in about three or four hours.

From there we headed for lunch and then on to the Summer Palace.  This was another residential area for the emporer and is set on a nice little lake.  We went for a stroll along the lake and then from there it was back to the hotel for a short stop before heading to out for a Peking duck dinner and to see the Legend of Kung Fu show.  After all the walking and with perhaps a little jet lag catching up it was hard to keep my eyes open for the whole show, but I managed to do it.  Back to the hotel a little before 10 this evening.