Nia Hao!

We have been having a great time over the last few days or so, not only planning for the next few months but also getting some more mileage into our legs as well as some great sight seeing :-) We returned to Tian'anmen Square in order to visit the Forbidden City or the Palace Museum as it is popularly known as here...

A view of Tian'anmen Gate during the daytime complete with traffic tearing by.


Another windy day in Beijing - great for flags though.


In front of Mao's mausoleum is positioned a pair of military sculptures, for me they are very reminiscent of the statues that I saw in Vietnam.


The monument to the people.


There is a lot of security in this area (no surprises there). It is not unusual to see guards marching through the subways, passed secular buildings as well as in front of the government buildings. We tried to get a look at the entrance to the Zhongnanhai (the Communist party headquarters), it is very spectacular to see from the road. Unfortunately plain clothes security guards (all dressed in leather jackets and white trainers) would not let anybody stop on the street anywhere near the perimeter.


We were hoping to go and see a preserved Mao in his memorial hall but unfortunately it is closed. Likewise the museum of the Revolution as well as the Chinese History Museum were also closed, both for renovation, obviously in time for the influx of people who will come to Beijing for the Olympics. There is a lot of preparation going on for 2008, there is building work everywhere!

We decided to go the Forbidden City, it was quite a cold and miserable day, there was rain and wind however it did keep the hordes away so we had a great time.

It was amazing to be inside the Forbidden city, the complex is much larger than I had thought and we spent four hours walking around the maze of buildings and passageways. There are 800 buildings in total - no we did not get around all of them but we did have a great time exploring.

The architecture was certainly worthy of the emperors (the Sons of Heaven) of the Ming and Qing dynasties, from here they would issue their commands over their millions of subjects. Everything was auspiciously positioned in accordance to geomancy. There were many buildings such as this one.


Brightly coloured tiles adorned the roofs and there was attention to detail on the gables too.

Beautiful entrances.



Above doorways were many signs written in Chinese characters (we did not have time to translate them with our Chinese - English dictionary, besides my hands were too busy keeping warm inside my jacket).



A close up of a glazed dragon decorating the walls.


Bright painting adorns ceilings as well as the eaves - dragons are a popular theme, as well as flowers...

... as well as peaceful scenes of flora and fauna.

A throne room.


One of the many passageways...


..and more beautifully decorated rooftops.



There is much controversy over Starbucks opening a coffee shop in the Forbidden City (I was shocked when I read about it some time ago) however I would be a liar if I said that I was unhappy to come across it. We were so cold and absolutely frozen that we found ourselves making a caffeine purchase... I felt like a hypocrit but a warmer one at least :-/


We loved the sculptures of mythical creatures.





There are many vats located throughout the complex, originally they would have contained water should a fire breakout. We were quite amused to see the modern day equivalent on display too :-)


We eventually came across the garden at the rear of the complex. Even though most of the flowers are not yet in bloom it was still wonderful to be there. Amongst the flowerbeds were twisted trees and "grotesque" (to use the official term) shaped rocks.

The paths were decorated with pretty mosaics too.




We quite enjoyed using this four star toilet...


K tried to look like a ninja but got too cold and had to put her dayglo jacket on :-)


We also went to Jingshan Park that is situated north of the Forbidden City, here you can climb a hill and looks out across Beijing. The hill was created when the moat was dug out for the Forbidden City.

At the entrance was a sign that told us how to behave properly.


Looking out at the Forbidden City below.

The huge dome that you can see in the background of this picture is an example of some of the very modern architecture sprouting up around the city. There is much controversy surrounding the cost of such projects.

One of the guards towers positioned at each corner of the perimeter walls (and a view of the modern city towering over the forbidden city).

Modern Beijing is growing upwards and outwards at an astonishing rate, along with skyscrapers huge cranes also dote the horizon.


When walking in the park we came across these Juniper trees named the Generals. They were planted in the ninth century and they still stand tall and healthy.



The park was a bustle of life. People were gathered together in different spots and were participating in various activities. Singing along accompanied by an accordian was the most popular - we asked and were told that the participants sang because they were tired but happy after a weeks work. People were also dancing together to popular instrumentals such as the Sound of Music. There were also groups of people playing flutes, recorders and traditional instruments. Also calligraphy masters using water and a large brush wrote poetry in characters upon the pavement. The writing would grow faint over time due to the wind and would eventually disappear altogether, it was very peaceful to watch.



Beijing is a remarkable city, there is so much going on here, hopefully I will have time to share some more stories of the the things that we have seen and what it feels like to be here - a city of transition and development for the better or worse.

Thanks for looking.