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Published: April 21st 2007
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After rising at the leisurely hour of 7.30, I was ready to tackle Beijing. How hard could it be? I had my maps and a plan to visit the Forbidden City. On the map it showed it to be only a couple of streets away from my hotel. Well, yes . . . Beijing streets . . . certainly not the same size as Amsterdam streets, that’s for sure.
My map-reading was on target, however, and I arrived at the Eastern wall of the city. The main entrance is on the south, so after about 20 minutes of walking, I encountered quite a long line waiting to buy tickets. After purchasing tickets for the city and an audio tour, I had to go to another line to pick up the audio player. This is quite an amazing gadget. It automatically senses where you are and gives you information about where you are at that moment. It also shows you all the places within both the outer and inner court by use of lights on the audio box. When you’ve visited a place, the red light goes out. The flashing light is where you are at the moment. And the
red lights are the places you have not yet visited. Incredible! And necessary. This place is . . . you guessed it . . . HUGE! There are 8,707 rooms in the Forbidden city. It would be very easy to become lost in it. By the time I had spent approximately 5 hours in the city, not even half of the lights had gone out . . . but after five hours of straight walking, I was ready to call it quits.
I took a zillion (well, maybe a little exaggerated) pictures there and have included only a few. The scope of the place is immense. The largest hall is under renovation, like the rest of the country, in preparation for the Olympics. But, no problem, there’s plenty enough to see. The palaces have names like Gate of Heavenly Purity, Palace of Earthly Tranquility, Hall of Imperial Peace, Palace of Peaceful Longevity, and Gate of Divine Prowess.
The items on display are equally ethereal. Jade, precious stones, gold, and enameled objects dating back centuries. The jewelry pavillion cost an extra 5 or 10 yuan, but definitely worth it. It's not just one building but quite a few with
opulent furnishings and displays of the wealth enjoyed by the Emperors.
By the way, I would highly recommend the audio tour. There are wonderul stories about the people who lived here as well as the buildings themselves.
After walking my feet off, I decided to try a new adventure. Riding the bus in Beijing. I found the right number, 103, and waited with a number of other people. The first bus was so full that a flea couldn't have gotten on it. A 10-minute wait produced another bus that two of us could board. The woman who boarded and I had spoken earlier, and she asked the bus driver to let me know when we reached Wangfujing, my stop. I actually recognized my stop before the driver told me. The bus is an incredibly cheap way to travel at 1 yuan (about 10 Euro cents).
I was determined to come right home. It was about 16.30 and I thought it would be prudent to get a bit of a rest. This was not to be so. I find everything so fascinating that I walked around a bit and decided . . . to get a massage!
Very interesting. Don't need to take your clothes off (my Mom Dottie would like this kind of massage!). Best 10 Euro I ever spent for a 1 hour full body massage.
Refreshed, I realized that I had only snacked during the day and was ready for dinner. I picked a place close to my hotel. . . an Islamatic restaurant, where I had the specialty, hotpot. It's hard to describe . . . I've included a photo . . . but it's basically a bowl within a bowl made of copper. The inside bowl has a burning coal in it, which boils the water in the outer bowl. Spices are put in the water and you choose what kind of meat and vegetable you want. You cook these (a chopstick full at a time) in the water and then dip into a sauce. I chose mutton, a sesame sauce and the vegatable I chose was like watercress, but different. There's also a bowl of chopped coriander (cilantro for my American readers) which you sprinkled into the sesame sauce. Delicious and less than 5 Euro including my drink.
You might think that this would be the time I would
head home. But no. Of course not. My belly was full nd I was ready to go further. Headed down the Wangfujing Street for a little shopping. Looking more than shopping, really, but starting to compare prices. I discovered that you can negotiate prices even at department stores!
Hopped the bus (103 again) back to near my hotel, finally, at about 20.00. I figure I was on my feet for at least 8 hours today. I still feel good, but think when I hit my hard bed for the evening I'll be out like a light.
I've booked a tour to the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall for tomorrow. Guess I'd better charge up my camera batteries! Must say that the 2 gig card in my camera is getting a good workout. I reckon that I've taken at least 300 pictures on this trip so far, and I've got four more days to go!
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Corinne Levy
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wat is dat???????? het beste deel en je hebt dat niet gegeten??? Ik volg je like a shadow. Prachtige foto's overigens. Ga je het terra cotta leger nog bekijken of is dat way out? Voordat je het weet ben je weer thuis. Je moet inmiddels een expert stokjes eter zijn, leer je mij ook om met stokjes te eten? Goed idee voor K.D. kusxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCorinne.