Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City

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Our final full day in Beijing we had reserved for Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. They weren’t far from where we were staying and it was only two stops via metro to get there. Tiananmen Square is a really really REALLY big square. It looks big on TV and in pictures but the full scale of it doesn’t hit you until you’re standing in it and it seems to stretch on forever. Other than that it’s fairly boring. It’s probably the most boring national landmark I’ve ever visited because it’s just a really big square. There’s a statue in the middle and stuff all the way around. But unless there’s something going on in it it’s just a big empty space. Out of morose curiosity we decided to visit Chairman Mao’s mausoleum where the guidebooks told us we could see the mummified corpse of Mao himself. Entrance to the mausoleum is free. But there’s a catch. You can’t take anything in with you. No cameras, bags, umbrellas, no nothing. So before you wait in line to see the Chairman you have to visit the building next door where you pay a fee to leave all your valuables. None of us felt very comfortable leaving our cameras and things for an extended period of time and the line for the mausoleum was quite long so with heavy hearts we paid our respects to Mao from the really big square outside.

Next on our agenda was the Forbidden City which lies at one end of Tiananmen. The Summer Palace was such a monumental disappointment that I was hesitant to be too excited about this next attraction. Other guests at our hostel had assured us that the Forbidden City was much better so I was cautiously optimistic as we crossed the bridge to the main gate. The Forbidden City is massive. It’s hard to imagine how many thousands of people would have been ‘employed’ by the emperor to maintain such a place. After entering through the gate one has to cross a gigantic courtyard to another gate. With high walls surrounding the entire complex it’s easy to see why it was such a mysterious place during its heyday. Down the center of the city is an alternating procession of immense squares and towering receiving halls/throne rooms. On either side were narrow streets and the smaller more intimate living quarters of the emperors and empresses. None could be entered, but all were furnished as they if they were lived in and one could glimpse through the window at what life was like for the royalty of the Middle Kingdom. At the rear of the city was the imperial garden.

The weather was scorching that day and after a couple of hours in the sun we decided that we couldn’t bare it anymore. There was still more to see and I would love to go back to finish my tour of the Forbidden City on a day a little less sweltering. It did not disappointment. Not in the least.

On our day of departure we spent the morning at an antique market. Like everything in China, it was enormous. Hours of shopping later, our minds numb and our wallets thinner, we went back to our hostel one last time to pick up our belongings and head back to the train station. Sadly, we had to opt for the hard sleeper option. Unlike the soft sleeper we rode to Beijing from Shenzhen, the hard sleeper was three high (instead of two high) with no door for privacy. And, true to its name, it was hard. The ride home was less than idealistic, but I suppose that’s all part of the experience of traveling in Asia.

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Photos

Tiananmen Square
and Cara trying to make it interesting

Real cute
This dress is really cute on a little girl. The sad thing is that adult women wear similar dresses.

Same Bat Time Same Bat Channel
In one of the emperor's small 'palaces' there was a room decorated with bats. I loved it.