Having been unsure of Beijing and what it might have to offer us, we actually found ourselves getting quite attached to it, even quite enjoying ourselves. Sadly though, today was our last day in Beijing before heading to Shanghai, so we’d decided to leave it free to enable us to return to anything we wanted to take a second look at or to just take it easy and have a quiet day. But there was one thing we’d missed visiting over the last few days and this was the Buddhist temple, Yonghegong, also known as the Lama Temple which was on our route to/from the tube station.
Once again riding the tube in to Tiananmen Square we did a spot of shopping, picking up a few bargains to take home.
After a leisurely stroll around down town Beijing we headed back on the tube exiting at Yonghegong station and headed down the road lined with Buddhist artefact shops to the Temple. Once again, get your wallet out as you have to pay to get in and joining the busy crowd heading inside. The Temple was very busy indeed, not only with tourists but also Buddhists praying and paying their respects. Very ornate and a really nice, welcoming atmosphere too. It was lovely to just wander about with no agenda or need to rush off to visit another site.
Once again an afternoon rest was required and also we had to pack our suitcase for an early departure in the morning.
Needing to eat we headed out to the final stop on our agenda, the Xu Xiang Zhai vegetarian buffet restaurant near the Yonghegong Temple. Everything on offer in the buffet was 100% vegetarian or vegan and was a veritable feast. Once shown to your table you need to pay upfront for your meal otherwise they won’t let you eat. There was so much on offer it was hard to know what to eat and where to start first. All sorts of meat dishes, now made with mock meats tempted the taste buds and several trips to the buffet were made before then attempting to decide on what dessert to have. Apparently, once a dish has run out, that’s it for that sitting and it is not replaced, so it’s advisable to get there as soon as it opens to get a good choice before it runs out. We both left the restaurant well and truly stuffed and well satisfied.
Once again it was sofa time at The Orchid and with a couple of beers we enjoyed one last evening chatting with fellow guests before one last check of the suitcases.
And that was it, Beijing was done and dusted.
mrandmrsyoung 