Beijing Series Part 4

On Wednesday, we made it to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is the former Imperial Palace for many of China's great emperors. For more on the layout of this great Palace, visit: http://www.thebeijingguide.com/forbidden_city/index.html. This place is filled with great architecture. The City is surrounded by a huge mote and an area that holds many other parks and buildings. This area is surrounded by an even larger wall. I would talk about the architecture and many of the buildings but I don't know much about it. I think the Chinese government just wants people to enjoy the architecture not the history. The only thing I know after spending a whole day there is that the most powerful person in China once lived there.














The pic on the right is of the Hall of Complete Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. I wish I could show you a pic of the glorious Hall of Supreme Harmony but that building, like many others in Beijing, was covered by scaffolding for renovations. The picture on the left is of me and Chairman Mao. The building that his picture is hanging on is the Gate of Heavenly Peace. This is the entrance to the city inside a city that contains another city - the Forbidden City.

During our tour of the Forbidden City, we ran into the most rediculous thing of that day. We found Starbucks. Starbucks!!!! There was a Starbucks in the Forbidden City. For hundreds of years, people weren't allowed in, people couldn't desecrate the home of the conduit of the heavens. Now there is a Starbucks there? Whose idea was that? The commercialization of the Forbidden City is sad; however, I do know that without such amenities and little random shops, no one would really enjoy the Forbidden City - unless you are like me. I loved looking at the architecture even if I didn't know what any of it meant. Maybe it was fun to dream about living there.













On Thursday, we headed out to the Great Wall at Mu Tian Yu. This section of the GW is not a very busy tourist spot. We liked it very much because it wasn't jam-packed with people. Amy and I rode up to the Wall in a cable car (a sky lift). It tooked less than 5 minutes. When we got up there we turned to the left and explored that side of the GW. Most people went right. Brad and Beth climbed up to the GW so we never saw them. Amy and I enjoyed ourselves and took many artistic photos - none of them will be included in this post. They say you can see the GW from space. I don't believe that. If you can't see my house, then you can't see the GW. The GW was no taller than a 2 story house. It was no wider than 2 cars. Some say that you can see it because it is long. I think some astronaut in space thought he saw it and that has been the belief since. The wall is impressive but I hear that it never kept out invaders. Also, I can't think of any army that would want to climb up the mountain anyway. It looks too steep for an army to take together. It was neat and I am glad that I saw it.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them. Check back soon for Part 5.