Beijing, China

On the weekend there I went out into the countryside to an old emperor's Summer Palace. They place was amazing - its a huge estate with a total of 3 thousand buildings littered around it, in classic Chinese style just like you'd expect. Quite incredible. Its got the longest painted corridor in the world. On Sunday, I rented a bicycle and cycled down to Tienamen Square. That was impressive too (the largest public square in the world). At one side of the square, there's a building which is used as a stand for politicians and bigwigs to view the parades from. Its got that painting of the emperor that you always see on TV. Right up close, you can see he's got a nasty big wart on his chin! Behind this, I visited the "Forbidden City" a.k.a "the Emperor's Palace". Very interesting too - but its the scale of it the really strikes you - it just like there's more and more and more of it - courtyard after courtyard - little structures and staircases. Behind all of this, there's a big hill, at the top of which you get a pretty good view of the city. I gotta spend more time in Asia - I could really settle somewhere here.