Day 5, part 1: The Bell tower

I really wanted to go see the Great Wall of China today. However, it's 2 hours away from where I am in Beijing... And that would totally kill my chances of getting inside the Forbidden City. And since the Forbidden city is just across the road from Tiananmenn Square and near the Bell and Drum Towers, we decided not to go to the Great wall to see more of the city... Even though it's one of the 7 Wonders of the World... =( OK, I have to let it go... hopefully there'll be a next time.

Here I am with our Area head of Sourcing, Agustino, who thankfully, knew how to speak Chinese and wisefully brought a map along. Thanks so much Agustino! Without you, I would not have survived! We got to Udong (really really old neighborhood 5 minutes away from the T-Square) at 12:30. I was soooooo hungry, so we stopped by a Chinese restaurant where the lapu-lapu was great!

First stop was the Bell Tower... But before getting there, I took a picture of all these bikes parked outside the tower.... I don't know what's with my fascination with bikes...
Drum roll please.......................... Behold, the Bell tower! Not really sure what the bell is for, but inside it lies a big ass bell. We decided not to go in since the Drum tower sounded more interesting. I'll get to that in a bit.
And more bikes!!!