He sat down and informed us that Liam and Kevin had been up since seven walking around the city and that Will would be down soon. O.k., I definitely misjudged that one.
Once Will was ready (hair in line and fresh Subway sandwich in belly) we all left the hostel and walked around the corner to the front gates of the Forbidden City.
Cam had the great idea to get a guide. Looking back, I don’t know what we would have done without her – saunter across endless yards of concrete and peer into red building after red building after red building? No, she made the whole experience very interesting and very well worth it.
Here we stood in one of the many “outer rings” of the city where many ceremonies were held. Inside the structure behind us is where the Emperor used to sit and watch the action.
A shot of Cam and I in the same spot – this one’s for the grandparents
We walked up the stairs and were able to peer inside. Then to continue the tour we walked around the building to the other side and when we got around the view was almost the same – another flat concrete space with one of the Emperors buildings raised in the distance at the top of a flight of stairs. This is how the Forbidden City is designed with sleeping quarters and other shops etc. lining both sides.
This building was in the second ring and was where the Emperor held his morning meetings. I doubt the large television screen were around back then though.
Will hugging one of the pillars. We learned that each pillar = one tree. In fact, the whole city is made of wood making it a huge fire hazard. We learned that in the past they’d have big pots full of water scattered around the grounds so that when there was a fire, people could take water from them with buckets and use it to extinguish the fire. It’s no wonder the city has burned down so many times now.
Once we got into the “inner circle” the building order went: the Emperors throne, the Emperors resting room, and then the Emperors dressing room. Nice life.
Here is a picture of Cam at the base of one of the buildings holding the baby of some very trusting parents.
At one point our guide pointed out that there weren’t any trees on the grounds and asked us if we knew why. We ended up figuring out all three reasons. First, trees could easily house unwanted spies. Second, the trees could be a fire hazard (just like the rest of the place). Finally, the Emperor refused to allow anything to grow taller than he. Interesting I thought.
Once the tour was done out guide showed us to the concubine area where the Emperor housed all his women – I think he had somewhere around 90 living in the palace. They would each have a number and he would get his servant to fetch the one he wanted at any time of day. Some of these women lived their entire lives here, but never even got to see the emperor - I guess he had his favorites.
Standing in the concubine courtyard.
A decorative door on the palace grounds.
After that we strolled into the clock museum which was recommended to us by some other travelers in our hostel. It was a dark hall lit with tons of glowing clocks, all so ornate, given to the Emperor as gifts from subjects around the world. I never asked about the significance of the clock, but that would be interesting to know.
Will, Cam, and I having some fun on the grounds.
After that we had some lunch and made our way to the famous Tian’amen Square just before sunset.
My first impression was that it was smaller than I’d imagined. There also weren’t nearly as many soldiers as I’d expected and the ones that were there weren’t nearly as stern or strict as I would have thought.
Cam saluting the crew.
Will joking around. If you zoom in you can see that most of the guards are fighting back a smile.
Sunset at Tian’amen.
There were security cameras in different places around the square and out of curiosity I wanted to know what brand they were using, so I got Mandy to use her camera to zoom in and take pictures. At that point we found ourselves surrounded by three guards watching closely from about 5 meters away. I looked at Mandy, she deleted the photos and off we went to the other side of the square.
Just across the road was this night market street that looked nice, but we didn’t stay long. Kevin and I decided to meet Liam (who had to go back to do interviews earlier in the evening) back at the hostel for a few drinks while Mandy, Will and Cam took off for the Silk market in search of some deals.
By the time the three shoppers returned, Liam, Kevin, David and I were a few drinks in (David is an Irish teacher in China who was travelling with his amazing mother - he stayed with us at different points throughout the trip). We had had a few beers and were even brave enough to try some of the 5 yuan shots (or CDN$.25) that were offered at the hostel. Weeewwweee!
The shots.
Us around the table (from left: Mandy, Liam, Kevin, David, and I)
Will with all his new loot.
Cam was nice enough to bring me back a sweater. So nice and I definitely needed the warm clothes in that weather.
Later that evening we all lit some fireworks out on the street and then Liam, Kevin, David and I went out to a few bars in the popular areas of Beijing. A lot of fun, but surprisingly it wasn’t too lively. I think most people went home to other parts of China to be with their family for New Years. But no loss, we danced to a great live band and were given free drinks by the bartender all night. David ran into a little trouble at the end of the night when he accidently knocked over a bathroom stall and when they tried to get him to pay for it and he refused, they chased him out. Bad luck followed when he tried to get into a cab and another guy punched him out of the way so he could take it instead…but we all survived the night and were up early the next morning for our next adventure…The Great Wall of China!
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