The forecast for today wasn't very good, so we decided to take it easy and do a "quick lap" (about 14 kilometers) around the forbidden city in the center of Beijing.
The first stop was "Qiongdao island" home of that big white stoop you can see named "Bai ta" (白塔). To get there we could either walk around the lake, or pay 5rmb per person to cross the lake with a boat. We had to wait a little while tough, as the driver wasn't keen on crossing for just the two of us.
We eventually made our way up to the stoop, but you had to pay to get on it. With rain pooring down the visibility around was terrible, so we decided not to pay and work our way down past many old buildings and temple-like structures.
Across from the park is another park named "Jingshan Park". From here you have a great overview of the forbidden city (in theory).
After making our way up and back down from the viewpoint we walked around the east side of the forbidden city. Along the moat around the city there were fotoshoots everywhere from tourists.
The side streets on the east side were nice and quiet and the trees shades us from most of the rain.
Finally we were back at the front of the forbidden city, ready to head back to the hotel as our feet were soaked by the rain and puddles.
