I achieved a minor ambition today: I ate dog. It is surprisingly tasty, actually. The flavour is full, but not overpowering. I don’t know why Fido doesn’t turn up on the dinner table back home. Well, I do... some people get upset by the idea of eating dog. I’m not one of them, as you can tell!

Apart from dining on pets, I also had a long day walking around Tiantan Gongyuan (Garden of the Altar of Heaven), a very picturesque spot, and remarkably peaceful in this hectic city.

In the afternoon, I went by a combination of shanks’ pony, subway and, when I realised that time was fast running out, taxi to Yonghe Gong (the Lama Temple), a Tibetan Buddhist temple and the largest temple in Beijing. It is the second* smokiest place I have ever been, thanks to the industrial quantities of incense being burned there. It’s a beautiful place, and the massive 18 m-high statue of the Maitreya Buddha is even more impressive than the huge statue in Tōdaiji in Nara (Japan).

Here are some selected photos of the day.

* after the student pub at university