Beijing, China

On our first day in Beijing we visited the Summer Palace. It was constructed during the Jin dynasty (1115-1234) and continually then extended. It was a luxurious garden resort for the royal families, last used by Empress Dowager Cixi in the late 19th century.
We visited the Great Wall at Mutianyu the next day. This section was built in the sixth century, and some restoration occured in 1368. The views and the wall were stunning. We caught a ropeway up onto it, then walked along on the reconstructed section as far as we could go. We then went a little further on an original section until we reached the unrestored tower (pictured). We descended from the wall by toboggan!
The Forbidden City was next on the agenda, it was the first day of Golden Week holidays so it was extremely crowded. We passed through Tiannamen Square first & saw statues and silk hangings of Chairman Mao. The Forbidden City was huge, some buildings were kept as they were with original furnishings, others were used as museums to display artifacts.
That night we ate at the night market down the road from our hostel, we had fresh (made right in front of us) noodles & beer.