The Forbidden CIty

Another beautiful day in Beijing, the sun shone brightly and there was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was mid 70's-low 80's with a slight breeze. As far as weather is concerned, we have had a very pleasant time here.  The smog has not been as noticeable as of late, that is not to say that we did not notice it at all.  There were some days where we could not see across the street because it was so bad.  But lately we have had several beautiful days.  I woke up and decided that I had yet to see one of the more historic sights of Beijing, the Forbidden City.  I knew it was only two subway stops away so I walked to the Jianguomen station and boarded the subway bound for Tian'anmen East.  The subway was packed wall to wall , as usual, so I assumed my position in the middle of the aisle, standing and holding on to the handle to keep my balance.  They truly just pack on the subway, with little regard to that personal

 bubble that we seem to enjoy in the states. I arrived at Tian'anmen Station and shoved my way through the crowd, this is exactly what you have to do in order to de-board the train.  Throwing elbows, pushing, shoving and exerting pressure until the crowd bursts and you can step through the quickly closing doors and onto the platform.   I walked out of the station, up the stairs and was immediately greeted by two chinese men and one chinese woman.  The men tried to sell me a variety of goods, from "Rolex" watches, to Olympic Hats.  "5 for 20 RMB," he said.   "No, No, OK How about 10?"  He could not understand that I just had no use for 5 Olympic hats of poor quality.  The woman offered to be my guide for the day at the Forbidden City.  She assured me that her English was impeccable.  When I told her no thanks, and showed her that I had purchased an audio guide for my tour she quickly offered to take me to the Great Wall tomorrow and to be my English speaking guide.  I politely declined yet again, and started walking toward the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City.   With my ear piece in, the voice began speaking and informed that I was entering the Forbidden City, a land of peril and wonder.  I was getting excited!  She told stories of warriors, emperors, battles, fires, attempts to over throw the leaders.  I looked around and there in front of me was the Inner Golden Stream, with five bridges leading over the stream.

The middle bridge was exclusively for the emperor, the next two for the Nobles, and the last two for the High Ranking officials.  I crossed the imperial bridge and headed toward the first hall, the Gate of Supreme Harmony.

It is the highest gate in the imperial city and it was here where the emperor would meet with dignitaries and high ranking officials.  They also held banquets here.  Looking inside I noticed the attention to detail.  Every last piece of this building was handcrafted, with no nails.  I walked around the outside of the building and was directed towards a marble sun dial.  It had been the official clock of the imperial city, and only the emperor was allowed to give the official time and date in the imperial city.  

Continuing on around the building I stepped through a doorway and into the Hall of Middle Harmony, behind that was the Hall of Preserving Harmony.  

I continued on through the tour listening to the tid bits of information that the tour guide provided.  The last stop of the Forbidden City was the Imperial Garden, where the high ranking officials came for relaxation.  It was a splendid Chinese Garden with ancient Pine trees.  It truly looked like a place for rest and relaxation. 

I left the garden and the Forbidden City just in time for closing.  I looked around for a cab but found none that were unoccupied.  So, I started wandering in the general direction of my hotel.  I made a right turn and headed down one of the streets to the east of the Forbidden City.  There were various little shops and massage parlors, and finally I stumbled across three different art galleries.  I wandered in and examined some of the Chinese Artists work.  I found a few I liked, purchased them and then headed on my way.  I finally found a cab, hopped in and headed to my hotel.  Upon my arrival I briefly stopped in my hotel, freshened up and headed back out to the Yashow Market. It was the day to pick up my tailor fit shirts.  I arrived at Yashow and of course was immediately greeted by the familiar sounds of store owners..."You want a shirt?, How about some Jeans?"  I was on a mission, I needed to get those shirts I had purchased.  I made it safely upstairs to the third floor, Anne's Tailor shop, found my shirts and tried them on.  They fit perfectly, like a glove.  I was content, and paid the remaining 100 rmb for my four shirts.  But, I paused as I spotted more fabric that I really liked.  "Should I buy a couple more", I thought to myself ?  In the end I could not leave without buying a few more shirts.  I purchased three more fabrics and headed out of the store.  At this point I was extremely hungry, and decided I wanted to eat at Face, one of our dine around restaurants.  Face is a unique experience, with three separate restaurants all housed within one building.  One is Indian food, one Chinese, and one Thai food. We chose the Indian, as I think we have had our fill of Chinese for the time being.  We sat down, ordered Nan bread, Butter Chicken, Saffron Shrimp, Vegetable Kabobs, Rice, and Samosa's.