William got to go to Beijing for a work trip and I went along! Since it was November, it was very cold and it was also very dry (I needed lots of hand and face moisturizer). It would have been better to go in nicer weather, but the trip was still lots of fun.

We saw many of the main tourist sites–the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Great Wall. But we loved the hutongs best–they are traditional residential alleys. They are lined with traditional courtyard residences, some of which people still live in, and some which have been converted into restaurants, businesses, and hotels.

The subways made getting around Beijing easy (and they were also very clean too!), though we also took some buses and some taxis (luckily William speaks Mandarin).

Hutongs

Hutong Hotels (Courtyard 7, a hotel that we stayed at which is located in a renovated Hutong. It was really nice.)

Around Town

Forbidden Palace

Summer Palace

798 Arts District

Lama Temple

Great Wall

Food