So, the first thing we did was visit the Forbidden City – which could be
considered, by some, as the Chinese crown jewel… We then moved on to the Summer
Palace
Beijing is both new and old in the sense that they kept the older history of the forbidden city but much of the rest of the city has been demolished to make way for the 2008 Summer Olympics buildings and space requirements and the rest to build large modern skyscrapers to help keep up with the growing housing demand as China becomes more urbanized. This means that really, the areas of Beijing are either very old, or really quite new...
The Forbidden City:
Well, it was pretty cool… our tour included the Tiananmen Square which was
interesting… it had all of the trims and trappings of a usual state monument except that there was a lot of armed guards around. And sure military presences
isn't unusual, what was unusual was that they were really only watching or
checking the Chinese groups – as white tourists we were free to roam un-watched
around the square and even skip the security checks at almost ALL famous
landmarks etc. throughout China.
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| Us, looking especially touristy! |
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| One of the Guards (He was pretty much just for looks...) |
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| More Military, and Chairman Mao! |
The city is beautiful, but I found it more closed in than I would have
though. There are tons of courtyards after courtyards.. hidden gardens and small
passageways… and lots of little details!
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| Detail around a jade ring sitting within the living quarters (outside) |
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| Apparently the Dragon had 9 sons.. and the little dragons on the end of a roof symbolize the importance of the building. The more mini dragons (up to 9) the more important the building - this one has 9 and was the throne area for the Emperor and therefore was considered VERY important! |
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| Little Balcony overlooking a rock garden... reminded me of an Chinese Romeo & Julie scene! |
Summer Palace:
The summer palace was a gift from an Emperor to his
Mother on the occasion of her 60th birthday. The Palace sits overlooking a lake
(which, random fact, the Emperor used to also train his navy on) with a
beautiful arched bridge leading to a lonely island in the middle of the lake. We
rode a “dragon boat” which was a motorized ferry done up like a dragon to see
'the longest corridor in the world' which I really thought was kind of a cheat
since it really resembles more of a covered walk way – however it didn't rob
the spot of it's beauty!
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| Yeeeeeeah, it's pretty touristy - but the locals ride it too! |
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| Half Marble Boat (it really is floating apparently!) |
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| Detail in a Pagoda (hand painted) |
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Picture of a section of the longest corridor in the world
It's all outside along a park/lake shore |
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