Day 02: Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (April 2019)

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Friday, 19th April 2019

After breakfast on Friday, I took bus service #8 outside my hotel to Qianmen stop where the Tiananmen Square is located. I'm always slightly nervous whenever I'm in crowded places, more so at Tiananmen when I'm surrounded by strangers and we had to go through the security check-points prior to entering the Square. The crowd was considered orderly this morning but the whole process still took a while. I could not imagine how things would be like during the peak holiday season.

Anyway, Tiananmen Square like many of the Communist public squares around the world is huge in size. There is a flag pole that takes centre-stage. Across the road from the Square, is the red Tiananmen where the portrait of Mao Zedong stands proudly on the wall gazing at the people below him.

Passing through one of the five doors beyond Tiananmen brought me to the gates of the Forbidden City, home of the Ming and Qing Emperors.

The visiting route follows the south-north direction. I entered from the South Gate to the main halls and slowly made my way towards the North Gate. The route is flanked by both the western and eastern palaces. These were the residences of the Empress and Concubines.

As I emerged from the North Gate some two hours later, this is where the Imperial Garden is located accompanied by two kneeling elephant statutes.

From the North Gate, I took bus service #103 to Wangfujing where I headed straight to APM Mall for my Peking Duck lunch @ Xiao Dadong. This is considered a casual fine dining establishment. At RMB 119, my lunch set came with half a duck portion together with soup and condiments. A yummy ice-cream dessert was served at the end of the satisfying meal.

After lunch, I lingered around the vicinity and to the food street before heading back to the hotel for a rest. On my way back, I stopped by the nearby Carrefour where I opted for some takeaways for dinner. I was lazy to venture out of the hotel that evening.

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