the city of superlatives

I've been teased sometimes about using overly strong language (yes, Dad, I'm thinking of you) - "good" becomes "best"; "bad" becomes "totally inexcusable"; "nice" becomes "sweetest girl in the entire world"; "smells bad" becomes "gag me with a pitchfork." So maybe Beijing is a good city for me - where the Wall and the Hall of the People are Great, the City is Forbidden, it is not merely a temple but is a Temple of Heaven...

Yet despite the hype built into the naming system, none of the Beijing monuments let me down. Once again, I'll let my photos do the talking.

The Great Wall at Badaling:

























The Forbidden City, and the very famous Chairman Mao portrait at its entrance - well-guarded by an entire very serious-looking security team, as well as camera-equipped vehicles:
Tiananmen Square, a focal point of China's recent history:
A night market famous for its disgusting food choices (scorpions, seahorses, grasshoppers, etc):










I would also have a picture of the Peking duck from Saturday night but due to an unfortunate camera incident it no longer exists. But yes, China's most famous dish was part of a long list of Beijing highlights... Although I chickened out (ducked out?) before trying a bite of the head.