It is the last city on our nine-month tour of ten countries. It is a place of urban sprawl, history, smog, government control, the Forbidden City, the Olympics. It is Beijing.

First we had to get there, from peaceful Pingyao.

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Our explorations began in iconic Tiananmen Square.

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With so much going on, perhaps it’s no surprise that we wound up in a restaurant, sampling the local hooch.

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Epilogue

Is it a good thing to read this on a beer bottle: “Official Partner of the China’s Lunar Exploration Program”? Aren’t those exactly the guys who shouldn’t drink excessively (like we were doing)?