Blogs from Forbidden City, Beijing, China, Asia - page 10

Yesterday we had the honor of visiting the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square. The Forbidden City is the massive moat-encircled palace of the the Chinese Emperors built over much of the last millennium. Tian'anmen Square is the public square just outside of the Forbidden City. We have met half of the 10 families in our adoption travel group and they are all wonderful folks! We all traveled together yesterday. After visiting the Forbidden City, we all took a rickshaw ride touring one of the remaining old style neighborhoods (called Hutongs). These are evidently a dying breed of neighborhood in the push for modernization in China. See attached pictures for all the above. It was a great albeit tiring day, perfectly designed to pulse everyone with enough sun to entrain us into local time before we all ... read more

Forbidden City Beijing roads are in grid, so they are relatively easy to study. There are ring roads around the city—they are not circular but rectangular—with Tiananmen as the center. Today, our first stop of the day is the Forbidden City. This historical place was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 by UNESCO and has the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Built in 1406, it housed 24 emperors and two dynasties. After walking through a massive towering gate, we arrive at the outer courtyard. From this vantage point the vastness of the place can be felt. Today, there are close to 1,000 buildings with over 8,000 rooms in an area that is about one fifthNew York City Central Park. Images from The Last Emperor movie come to mind. The yellow ... read more

21/8/10: We flew from Urumqi to Beijing. The flight cost us a fortune 2100yuan each. We had to fly because all the train tickets were booked out. We arrived at 1:00am in the morning. As we waited for our baggage I realised that my Aussie hat and sun glasses were missing. I had the airport lost and found ring our plane but there was no sign of the hat. I was upset more about the glasses than the hat as there was a new shipment being sent to our friend in Germany. We had to pay 100yuan to get to the hostel, all the public transport closed at 11:00pm, again we forked our more money. By the time we were in bed it was 2:30am. 22/8/10: I had a great sleep in the air-conditioning but for ... read more

Upon emerging from the tunnel under the street, I was instantly dwarfed by the Forbidden City. I crossed over marble bridges, just ahead of some tour groups. It was all I could do to hobble faster to get ahead of them. Guards and plain-clothes police watched us as we passed en masse toward the big, red gate. Immediately after passing through the gate (it's surprisingly deep), I was dwarfed by another gate and tall walls on three sides. Then another gate and a moat. This place was built to leave an impression. I couldn't believe how big it was, and how many nooks and crannies awaited me. How big, you ask? It's nearly 8 million square feet, and in the five or so hours I spent there, I saw--at most--half of it. Every twist and turn ... read more

Arrived in Beijing at about 5:10 pm. The plane was late and then I had to get my luggage. I got an airport shuttle bus to downtown Beijing and then got a taxi to the hotel The hotel is near Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden City but I didn't see either one of them. I got here at about 7:15 and then had to check in. I came up to my room to leave the bags and then went out to walk to Tiannamen Square. A pedicab driver stopped me and asked if I wanted a tour - for 180 yuan -- about $30...I said I just wanted to walk...he kept following me...$160, then $100 and finally $80. I said ok. Then he made a u-turn and kept saying Hotung...I thought he was saying all around ... read more