DAY 11 - Beijing, Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City
Our last full day in Beijing. On the agenda for today was Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. They are both located in the same area, so we once again headed out bright and early to "beat the crowds". This proved to be a laugh, as the Forbidden City is closed on Mondays for maintenance, so the crowds were twice as large on Tuesday, which also happened to be the tail end of the holiday week.
Our bus let us out outside Tiananmen Square and was scheduled to pick us up 3 hours later when we had finished the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the world's largest public square and can accommodate more than one million people. The entire area is constructed on a base of rectangular paving stones and each one is marked so participants know where to stand during state parades. Today, we were accompanied by 500,000 people. Its name means "Gate of Heavenly Peace," and it has been the centre of Beijing for centuries. At the north end of the square is Tiananmen Tower, the formal entrance to the Forbidden City during the Ming Dynasty. On the south side is the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall containing a crystal sarcophagus with the body of the revered leader. Each morning, the sarcophagus is raised out of an underground vault for display and the Chinese line up for hours to view it. They are allowed to bring nothing into the Hall, so a designated person from each group sits on the ground with all the group's back packs, handbags and other possessions.
In the centre of the square is a huge granite monolith, "Monument to the People's Heroes". Other imposing buildings and monuments line the square. But most impressive of all is the sheer scope of Tiananmen, site of massive gatherings during state occasions and of pro-democracy demonstrations in the latter part of the 20th century.
Our tour guide spent quite a bit of time expounding on the Chinese political system and generally waving the political flag. It was obvious that as tourists we were watched, particularly in a large gathering place like this. We were taken to very specific areas in the square and spent quite a bit of time learning about the Chinese flag.
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| Mao Zedong Memorial Hall where Mao lays in rest |
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| People line for hours to enter the hall |
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| More photos of the square |
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| All the ever present traffic on the edge of the square |
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| Yup -- another virtual geocache |
Across the road, the Forbidden City is located. To get across the road, there is a huge underground passage way. Nobody would ever be able to cross the road, as the traffic is horrendous. Tiananmen Square was initially the "front door" of the Forbidden City. Completed in 1420, the Forbidden City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the world's largest palace complex and home to many buildings with 9,999 rooms. Now known as the Palace Museum, the Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing Dynasties where outside visitors were forbidden for five centuries. We explored the imperial treasures in the grand palaces and pavilions, exquisite courtyards and gardens in what was once the residence of China's rulers.
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| The entrance to the Forbidden City. Mao's picture is changed on a regular basis. |
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| The courtyard |
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| Want to get your photo taken dressed like royalty. There was a long line up for this. |
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| Beautiful gardens |
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| Yup .. another beer |
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Judi and Francine enjoying some time outside the hotel
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This was our last day in Beijing. We enjoyed dinner in the hotel with our bus group. Sadly, we had to leave most of them behind as we prepared for our extended trip to Guilin and Hong Kong. Only 26 out of the 150 original group went on the extension.
Even though Beijing was not as glamorous as Shanghai, it really was a beautiful city. We were blessed with perfect weather, good visibility and cool temperatures. We felt that Beijing was a true representation of the Chinese people. Our tour was available with opposite itineraries and we were pleased to have done it the way we did. To land in Beijing and begin the trip there would have been difficult with jet lag to overcome and stamina not built up.
Now we were to begin four more days of a completely different adventure .....
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