The Forbidden City
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2008
1
13
40
Trip End
Oct 31, 2008
Beijing,
China
Saturday, October 4, 2008
We started at the back of the City. This is where the smaller buildings are. There are 800 buildings in total, all made of wood - hence the current City was built in the 18th century.
We gradually walked towards the front of the City with the buildings getting larger and larger. The back buildings were for the Emperor, the front ones were for ceremonies etc. The whole thing is very impressive.
The closer we got to the front the more busy it got - it is still national holiday week and Beijing is drowning in people.
Across the street and we're in Tiananmen Square. We didn't stop to see Chairman Mao - the queue was at least 3 hours.
From there it was off to the Temple of Heaven. This is another Imperial building, this time a temple for the Emperor to pray in (twice a year). It's set in a large grounds with thousands of trees and is where many of the locals come to do Tai Chi, dancing and various group games.
The afternoon involved a walk around the Summer Palace. A 18th century addition to the Imperial palace network. This is a small palace based around a giant lake. It is very similar and design in style to the Forbidden City. The weather was a bit poor, but in the sunshine it is probably a really nice place to wander.
Also included in the tour were stops at a Government run silk shop and a Government run pearl shop. Oh, and lunch.
The evening involved a visit to the Beijing acrobats . This was a 'traditional' performance which included acrobats but also plate spinning and unicycle riding. There were many examples of girls who could bend their bodies in ways I'm sure aren't natural and then make pyramids of people. The tumbling was exciting and the 'pole jumping' was really worrying, especially as the make small boys slide down head first and then stop inches from the ground. All in all, an excellent time was had by all.
After that we found a fast food Beijing duck restaurant, kinda like Nando's only with Duck and it's Chinese and it does more than just duck. Then it was stand in the rain whilst attempting to catch a cab, successful on the second attempt. Shane tried his Chinese on the driver, who promptly charged off to a nearby hotel to get a translation.
Tomorrow is another organised tour, we're off to the Great Wall.
