Blogs from Forbidden City, Beijing, China, Asia - page 5

Wednesday, June 6th, we had the day off because of some emergency situation at our office. So Fernanda, Jeff and I decided to head to the Forbidden City to finally be tourists. Since I had a flight to catch later that day, we went first thing in the morning so we’d maximize our time there. Which of course meant that we were crammed into the subway. Which then resulted in us losing Jeff. We tried to reconnect with him but in the end Fernanda and I wandered by ourselves. The day was reeeeeeeeeeeeeally polluted which unfortunately made visibility kinda craptastic but it was still a spectacular sight. The forbidden city is the former palace area in Peking. It’s huge and it’s awe-inspiring. Definitely worthy of being BJ’s top tourist attraction. This is one of those situations ... read more

Sleeping on the train was actually OK. I managed to change into trackpants and T-shirt and had a doona if I felt cold. While I woke various times during the night (including when some of the people went in and out of the room, sometimes stepping on my lower bed), I got a lot of sleep until the attendant came in at 7am and announced the time (we were due in at 7.25am). We were told that our local guide, Leon, would meet us at the platform but once the platform cleared there was no one in sight. Fortunately I had been given his phone number, so I gave him a call. He was running late and advised to wait. Yet another example of the benefits of getting a local SIM card before starting my trip ... read more

Another exhausting day as the intrepid China explorers did Beijing's symbols of the past. We did the quick tour of the Forbidden City before getting ripped off by the bike taxis taking us the short trip from the back gate to Tianenmen Square. Despite the generous tip, the three drivers still chased us out of the drop off area for more money. All in good fun, we headed off for a typical Beijing lunch of refreshing pizza at a Belgian bar. We reckon the food will get more and more localised as we head West, so pizza was a hearty time-out for us. The afternoon we went our own seperate ways, with Stel and Ying Chu heading off to a shopping mall and a Korean movie, myself off to the new and first Lotus showroom in ... read more

This was one of our last full days in Beijing, China! We went to the Temple Of Heaven. We took the public bus to the temple. The Temple Of Heaven wasn't really a temple was almost like a huge park!!! Parker and I both got a hackie sack except it wasn't a bean sack, it also had feathers. It was really neat. When we bought them we started to play with them. We weren't too good at it, but it was very fun! We also saw a man who had his legs up behind his ears and a pole that went across his shoulders and between his feet. He also had 2 stools to balance on. It was amazing to see what he could do. There was a work out area that Parker and I played ... read more

We finally made it to the Forbidden City - yay :-) At least Josh, Lachie and I did. Stephen had to work. Best time to visit the hot spots of tourist destinations in Beijing are during the week. Although there are still Plenty of Tour Groups, but not as many locals. The guidebooks suggest to stay to the outer edges of the Forbidden City and we saw why, the groups seem to go straight through the middle and don't often visit the courtyards on the sides - strangely that is where the more interesting exhibitions are. The city is huge and there is quite alot to see, needless to say we didn't see it all, after 4hrs we were exhausted especially after our long walk the day before. It is however amazing and a must see. ... read more