Street Meat, Beijing, China

Once in Beijing we met up with some friends that we'd made in Yangshuo (Paul and Tracy from Vancouver now living in Nantong) and explored the city a little. Beijing is a huge city with large boulevards and shopping streets. 13 million people live here - it is hard to imagine that many people in one city! The infamous Tian'anmen Square is the largest city square in the world and was designed by Mao, the chairman of the People's Republc of China party, to hold a million people. His portrait presides over the north side of the square. Pretty impressive, although it is hard to wonder why he is so revered, as I have heard him talked about in the same light as Hitler or Stalin.

Our next few days took in the Hutongs - the backstreet alleyways and residential courtyards - by bicycle rickshaw, a couple of temples, and the night markets and street food. In China, any kind of food goes, and they will eat almost anything. Pictured here are starfish, sea horses, large grasshoppers, silk worms and scorpions. The latter still wriggling around on the skewers. Urgh!Sorry. But you wouldn't catch me even touching any of that selection, but the Chinese gobble them all up! * Mush