Wednesday's Anchovies

We reached our Airbnb homestay at Beijing in Thursday morning. The owner only allowed us to store our luggage in the house as there were still occupants staying in it. It was a brisk morning and we decided to take a stroll on the Jiugulou  （旧鼓楼大街） Main Street. We passed by a number of big Chinese restaurants, McDonald’s, cafes, hotel inns and also discovered branches of hutong  ( 胡同) on both sides of street. Only in China, McDonald! Unique cozy cafe. Bumped into few persimmon trees, excited like a kampung boy ...since we can't find this in Malaysia LOL. We were greeted with Drum and Bell Towers  （鼓楼，钟楼） after taking a left turn at the end of Jiugulou Street. There were two groups of locals kicking shuttlecock in a vast area between the two towers. They were definitely good in the sport and I was crazed of how a Chinese lady performing her classy back heel kicks for several times in a row. Nice weather we have, cold and breezy. Drum and Bell

Check out our travel tips here: i) Beijing - Where to stay ii) Beijing - Preparation checklist It was supposed to be 8 days 6 nights as we were flying at night of 19 th November 2016. We arrived Beijing at 5 in the morning and how I started counting it as the first day of travel. Day 1 : JiuGulou Street （旧鼓楼大街） – Drum & Bell Tower （鼓楼，钟楼） – Wangfujing Walking Street （王府井步行街） *Dinner at Haidilao （海底捞） Day 2 : Qianmen（前门）– Monumentto the People’s Heroes（人民英雄纪念碑） – Tian’anmen Square（天安门广场）– Palace Museum（故宫）– Jingshan Park （景山公园）– Shichahai（什刹海） *Dinner at Kaorouji （烤肉季） Day 3 : Temple of Heaven （天坛公园） – Nanluoguxiang （南锣鼓巷） *Lunch at Dawanju （大碗居） Day 4 : Summer Palace （颐和园） – Old Summer Palace （圆明园） *Dinner at McDonald’s Day 5 : Great Wall of Badaling （八达岭长城） *Dinner at Taste of Dadong （小大董） Day 6 : Lama Temple （雍和宫） – Guozijian walking street （国子监大街） – Olympic Village （奥运村）， Beijing National Aquatics Center -Water Cube（水立方），Bei