9 January 2008: Forbidden City

Today we awoke early again. We chose to skip breakfast at the hotel in favor of some fresh fruit and juice we had bought at the supermarket last night.
Our tour group was very small again. This time there were only 3 people in the group! Another man from Shanghai, and us. The tour guide was a different girl from yesterday, but the same man was driving the bus.
The tour began at Tian'an Men Square, and moved north, through The Forbidden City. Tian'an Men Square was very crowded when we passed by, but the tour guide pointed out the new parliament for "New China". She also pointedout the China National Museum, which is under renovations. She pointed out Mao's Mausoleum, which is where the body of Chairman Mau now rests.
I know Tian'an Men Square mostly because of the student massacre. I remember seeing video footage of tanks plowing down a sea of angry students. Our tour guide however, said there was a student protest, but she didn't know what happened. The Chinese media is controlled to prevent any Chinese from knowing what truly went on there.
Our tour group continued through The Forbidden City, which was constructed in the 14th century, during the Ming Dynasty. (Ming Dynasty was also responsible for The Great Wall). The Forbidden City is where the Emperor would reside. The entire complex was designed around a central axis, with no expense spared. There were several great halls, in witch the Emperor could conduct political business. These were all designed with the throne in the center.
At the rear of the forbidden city was where the Emperor's women lived. They had a beautiful garden area, and many rooms for sleeping, eating, and leisure activities. The garden area was decorated with stone sculptures from the bottom of a Chinese lake. Most of the women would not ever see the Emperor, but were kept there waiting, just in case. There were no men allowed in the complex.
We crossed a 55 meter wide mote as we left The Forbidden City, and the tour guide pointed out the 10m high walls and watch towers that were built for protection.
The next stop for our tour bus was the Summer Palace. This Palace was built after the Forbidden City. The palace seemed to be a little lower security, and was built at the edge of a man-made lake. It took 1000 men 4 years to dig out a huge lake, and piled up all the clay next to it, creating a mountain for worshiping the gods.
The summer palace had been beautifully restored for the upcoming Olympic Games, and is home to the longest oriental painted corridor in the world.
Our tour guide told us about one emperor who was too young to rule, so his mother used to make all the decisions on his behalf. When he was older, he wanted to rebel against his mother, so she locked him in a courtyard in the summer palace. She made him marry her niece, instead of his true love, and then poisoned him, so that a more obedient son could become emperor.
At The Summer Palace, they also had "the world's largest marble boat" which was really a dining room built from marble in the shape of a boat on the edge of the lake.
After stopping for some "top quality pearls at low prices" and a bite of lunch, we continued on our way to the Temple Of Heaven. This is the postcard of Beijing Tourism, and was the place where the Emperors would come to prey every year for good crops and good health.
The temple is in a circular shape, indicating that it is heavenly, in contrast to the square buildings at the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. The temple is constructed using 3 levels of roof. The top level represents heaven, and is held up by 4 pillars, representing the 4 seasons. The second roof represents mankind, and is held by 12 pillars representing the 12 months. The lowest roof represents the earth, and is held by 12 pillars, representing the 12 hours of daylight each day.
Once we had our fill of the temple of heaven, we proceeded back to the bus. The corridors were crowded with people playing cards, playing musical instruments, eating, singing and dancing. These people were all retired. China has a forced retirement at 55/60. They have no health care, so I'm not sure how people are supposed to support themselves. I did notice that some of the ladies were sewing things to sell, perhaps this keeps them going just a bit longer?
When our tour guide dropped us off at the hotel, Chris and I went for a wander through the "Hutong" witch are the traditional houses built at the time of the Ming Dynasty. These houses are for the commoners, so only grey was allowed to be used for decoration. No colors. The hutong and now protected by law, so they are cheap to live in, but very expensive to buy.
Chris and I ventured into a shopping mall, where we discovered a couple car dealerships! There was also a food court, and lots of western brand shops.
We passed on the food, and ventured back to the night food market. Chris and I had some food from the carts, and we also had a candied fruit stick each. :) We will have to wait and see if either of us got food poisoning from it later! lol