China Day 3 - Tiananman Square and Forbidden City

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This was the first full day in Beijing. A good word to describe Beijing is the Crane City. Major construction is going on for the 2008 Olympic. There is traffic, traffic and more traffic. We had an early start today. After breakfast at the hotel, the first stop was a trip to Tiananmen Square (the largest public square in the world) and the Forbidden City on the other side of the boulevard. The Forbidden City was the home for 24 Ming and Qing Dynasty emperors who ruled China for over 500 years. The Forbidden City also has the largest and most intact conglomeration of ancient structures of the imperial palace. The main palace is under going renovation (as is all of Beijing for the 2008 Olympics). But we were able to see the other palaces and rooms in the Forbidden City. There are 9999 ½ rooms, if you slept in a different room every night, you’ll be 27 years old when you got to the last room.

After the Forbidden City we had a large lunch and then off to visit the Summer Palace. This was the resort of Empress Dowager Ci Xi. It afforded her a view of the Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill. We passed on the Zoo. Instead the group wanted to see how silk was produced. After dinner we finish the day with an acrobatic show. Today was an indication of the pace of this tour, one word…exhausting.

Link (cut and paste into address bar):
http://www.hoteltravel.com/china/beijing/forbidden_city_map.htm

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Photos

Tiananman Square View 3
Our guide Suzy gives us some history.

Inside Forbidden City
Main Palace Under Renovation

Door & Palace
Main Palace Under Renovation for Olympics

Inside Forbidden City
Dragon Detail

Forbidden City
Exit