The Forbidden City

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May 30th 2007

Published: May 30th 2007

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Bridge

This is Angel on the bridge, a law student from FL. She brought a friend from home (not a law student) and they went around with me this day.

Yesterday we went to the Forbidden City. Unfortunately it was scheduled to close 2 hours after we arrived and much of it is under renovation (as is much of the city) in anticipation of the 2008 Olympics. The Forbidden City looks the same building over and over again to a westerner. There was a guided tour (narrated by Michael Moore) that I could have purchased for 40 yuan (less than $5) but after the 4 hour lecture on Chinese judicial enforcement of international intellectual property rights I was in no mood to listen to anything educational. I tagged along with two other women from my group and the one who did not sit through the IP lecture rented the tour gave the other two an abbreviated version of what she heard. It was interesting. I’ve posted pictures.

After we were kicked out of the Forbidden City we went to the Raffles Hotel here in Beijing. I just about pulled out my Visa to buy a room for the night because it was so nice! We sat in the beautifully appointed lounge and had mineral water (I had a pineapple mohito) and fresh veggies. It was a wonder retreat from

"Angry Stubby"

the chaos outside.

Then we headed off to the Forbidden City Theatre (which is actually in Shonghan Park, next door to the Forbidden City) to sample a concert at the Nine Gates Jazz Festival. I loved the first band, a very artistic and experimental group called Possicobilities Jazz Band. Then a band called “Lawrence ku Septet” came out. There were no programs (even if there were programs they would have been in Chinese!), so I do not know if they were from KU in Lawrence KS, but 5 of the 7 were white guys. They were very good musicians but their jazz was the good clean white guy brand. I loved the edgy experimental stuff that the Chinese band did - but my companions liked the second band better (which I expected).

After the concert we took some pics outside at a lit up Tian’anmen Square and grabbed a taxi home and I settled in for another night of sleep in the hardest bed in the world, successfully resisting the urge to call my husband. I am ready to come home, kiss my husband, eat a decent pizza, drink a decent beer and in the morning enjoy my