1 out of 50

Actually did some sightseeing yesterday. Checked out Tiananmen Square, which is just south of the Forbidden City. If I'm not mistaken, the Mao Mausoleum (where Chairman Mao's body rests embalmed) is in the background below.



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Fun fact of the day: Tiananmen Square is the largest city square in the world (according to the sign that also said not to spit) and where many of the big-time government buildings are located.



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Below is the Gate of Heavenly Peace with that famous giant portrait of Chairman Mao, where everybody and I mean everybody has to take a picture. It's like some Jedi force.



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Once you go under Mao's head and enter the through the gate, you're on your way to the Forbidden City, which is where the emperor resided back in the day.



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And that's it for pictures of the Forbidden City, because by the time I got to the entrance the ticket office was closed. So instead I took a picture of G-Unit B-B-B-B-B-B-Beijing.



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I am finding that Chinese language can be very literal.



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I mean, like real literal. (Yeah those are for you-know-whats.)



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Today I saw 3-wheeler triumvirate. I gotta get one of these.



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Below is one of my favorite restaurants so far. A meal is around $2 USD. In no particular they got porridge, noodles, and the uncut Peruvian.



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So my friend Amanda recently went to Beijing and told me that I had to get a foot massage when I got here. For some reason foot massage places are everywhere and they're like $5 USD for 30 minutes. Earlier today I went to this shopping mall, which I'll discuss in more detail later, and I stumbled across this section where around 50 shoppers were getting manicures, pedicures, and...foot massages. I was like fock it let's do this. And so goes my story of my first foot massage in Beijing.

There are 2 rows of chairs facing each other about 25 deep, and I am instructed to take a seat. Now I look around not knowing really what to expect, and I see all these with young women attending to the men and women shoppers.



At first I have to wait, as it's packed. I look around, wondering which one of these girls is going to give me this long awaited foot massage. After a few minutes I finally get some service when a dude puts a stool in front of me and lays out massage oil and towels. I'm like, cool, this guy is so helpful, getting everything ready for my foot masseuse. I am thinking this could be real nice having some girl massage my feet right about now, especially for 5 duckets.

But then the dude takes a seat. Huh? I am kind of befuddled. Uh, how come I got the only male foot masseuse in this joint while the other 49 shoppers all have female foot masseuses?! I mean it's cool and all. Not like it's going to move or anything.

Alright I have to go now and look up "I can't quit you" in Chinese.