Into the Forbidden City

I got bounced back out of the first subway we tried to take.  Glad we got on the next one, there was a lot more space.  Met a cute Australian couple on holiday who also was appalled at the dirt and rudeness.  Two stops available, we used the first one, just to make sure.  Getting off on Tian'anmen East or West will bring you up outside of Tian'anmen Square, depending on which exit you will come out on the street in front of it or across the street at the Forbidden City entrance.  

Tian-anmen Square is not much to look at, lots of government looking buildings(museum) around the square and set up with a row of big screen TVs.  Before when I was there during a public holiday, they had the square set up with a few landscapes made out of trees and flowers.  (Think Rose Bowl floats.)

Lots of walking and lines to get in, past a lot of people pestering to be your tour guide or buy this or that.  No, no, no.   Don't tell them where you are from and keep walking.  They can be quite persistent, following you around and repeatedly asking just like a small child does.  Annoying right?

Finally we arrive to the ticket booths to enter the Forbidden City.  Then more walking around.  Lots of big open spaces, littered with sights of construction and repair and the mess of tour group flags waving in the air.  We paid extra to go to a side section to see the Palace Jewels.  We just wanted to see another 9 screen dragon wall.  It's the same as at Beihai.  

It all pretty much looks the same.  And it doesn't mean much for me to push my way through all the crowds taking pictures into a darkened room to see where the emperor sat once upon a time.  Okay, so I did take one picture, from the back of the crowd with my hand stuck way in the air.  

What I did think was cool, was the theatre, it was 3 stories and could hold 1,000 people between all 3 stages, attic, basement and trap doors.  It must've been amazing to see a play on that.  Also the Imperial Garden last part of the Forbidden City before you leave the back entrance.  This is full of lovely trees, flowers(not yet open) and rock sculptures.  But because it is cool and different scenery than the rest of the Forbidden City it's always packed with people.

I must look like someone famous, because even though I have a hat covering my hair and sunglasses on, this lady kept trying to take my picture.  Plenty of other blond tourists running around.  Go bother them.  An older lady too.  Weird!(One day on the bus, some younger guy took a picture of the kids and e-mailed it.  What is going on, to me that is not normal, and I put off anyone trying to take a picture of us.)  It's not like Japan where people are friendly asking each other to take their picture or to take an innocent picture with a foreigner.  Here you don't know their intention.

I did like looking at all the Palace Museum shops, they had a lot of different stuff I haven't seen before.  You need to shop around because prices can be varying wildly here too.  Sometimes you can haggle with them.  I got a lovely glass bead with persimmon painted on the inside of it, they originally wanted 80 rmb, I got it for 30 rmb.  They do cool Chinese landscape finger paintings.  We watched them do it, within 5 minutes they can create a 5X7.  They wanted 120rmb.  What are you crazy.  They asked me to name by price.  I didn't to insult him with 10rmb, so I walked away.  I think I could try that myself with the boys fingerpaints!  Actually they use the same ink as the sume(caligraphy, this word must be the same in Japanese and Chinese, because they understand me when I say it).

After 3 hours I've had enough, out the door and across the street to Jingshan.

The history:  Building began in 1407, it took 14 years to build.  It's the world's largest palace complex at 74 hectares.  Over a million forced workers!  Who knew bricks could be made from white lime and glutinous rice and cement from glutinous rice and egg whites?  Most of it is yellow, the color(symbol) of the royal family.  Except for the black roof on the library, since they thought it represented water and would put out any fire there.