Tien'an'men Square, Forbidden Palace, Temple of Heaven, silk factory and tea house

We were on the 'go' for nine hours today, and after just six hours of sleep in the past 2 days it's catching up to me quickly.  I absolutely LOVED our tour today.  It was even more interesting seeing it all in person than I thought it would be.  I also got upgraded to rock star status; even though there are quite a few European and other Americans around because of the holiday week, and because we were touring major landmarks, I still had some of the locals snap my picture, or just flat out stare at me.  It was a little unnerving at first, but found a little satisfaction in quietly interacting with the little kids who stare.  They are genuinely just curious, and will often smile shyly and wave back.  So darn cute.

Our guide, Oscar, is fabulous.  He is so knowledgable about the history of China and can answer just about any questions we have had, and having our own guide (versus touring with a large group) is so convenient; when we want to go off on a tangent, we can.  His English is terrific, too.

Without further adue... here are the pictures!  ( I will post my favorite few, not all 250!)

Breakfast at the hotel was delicious!  Hen hao chi!

Cool-looking office building in one of the downtown areas of Beijing.  (Yes, you see it right: there is a hole in the middle!)



Tien'an'men Square!

The front entrance to the Forbidden City, across from Tien'an'men Square.

Rubbing one of the gold (well, used to be gold) knobs on the front door for good luck.  Nine was the emperor's number, so everything is done in 9's:  9 knobs in 9 rows on the doors, nine steps for each platform rise, and this palace has 9,999 rooms.

 

There are four gates within the city.  Those who got to enter further into the city was determined by rank.  Peasants were not allowed to enter.  As the person got more and more important, he was permitted to pass through these elaborate gates to get to the next courtyard within.



Water from the Yellow and Yangtzee Rivers was diverted into the palace.  These bridges, along with all steps and everything else you see in light gray or white, was made with solid marble.

You can distinguish between the male and the female gargoyles protecting each royal entrance by looking at their feet.  The male has his right paw on a ball, and the female is pinning down it's baby with her left paw.

Male



Female

If you look close, you can see chicken wire covering the restored painted wood.  It's to protect from birds perching (and pooping).  Even despite that distraction, look at the intracacy!  The detail is astounding!

The Forbidden City was designed by the emperor for the emperor.  Chinese soldiers still occupy and live in part of the city.  Only about half of it is available for public viewing.  Just seeing half of it was mind-boggling.  You can't understand how big it is until you see it for yourself.   Then try to imagine that it was completed in just 14 years.  The detail at every turn is just astounding.  About half of what we saw was 'restored' and about half wasn't.  This arch (above) and doorway has not yet been touched.

The empresses' crown (17th century)

Gold was only allowed within the Emperor's presence.  It was considered treason to see it outside of the Forbidden City.  And there's a LOT of it here!  These rooftop characters adorn all of the official buildings in the F.City.  There are up to ten of them for the most important buildings, and only a few for trivial structures.  And each one ends with the image of the emperor figure riding a chicken (long story, but quite interesting!).

Un-repaired wooden ceiling tiles.  Wow!  The history that this ceiling has seen over the past 400+ years....



The "Nine-Dragon" screen on the east (interior) wall of the city.

This cauldron, like hundreds of others within the Forbidden City walls, was fire protection.  There were servants whose entire job was to keep these full, and to light fires under each cauldron during the winters so that the water never froze.  Each one sits perched on top of a marble hearth.



One of the many residence courtyards for the concubines and the royal family.

Another of the inner courtyards or palaces, where the family members (including over a thousand concubines) lived.  I can only imagine how much drama there was with all of those women and children living so closely together, all competing to be the preferred woman or child to the Emperor.  Desperate Housewives just can't create drama like that!

There is a pretty large moat all around the Forbidden City.  There is a sidewalk that encircles the moat, and there are several beggars who appear to have physical ailments.  It is very very sad.  I am pretty sure one of the men I saw today had leporacy.  I saw men and women without limbs or who were blind, begging for money.  Words can't describe how badly that wounded my heart.  I took no photos, or course, but the images are burned in my brain.



After touring the Forbidden City and Palace, we found some lunch at a small local restaraunt.

That was the best food I've had here yet!

Red lanterns adorn many of the main roads in honor of the National Holiday week that is wrapping up today.





Best travel partner EVER!  :o)

On the way from lunch to the Temple of Heaven, we stopped by the Silk Factory to see how silk is made, and to sit through some pretty high-pressure sales pitches.

This is the machine that unwinds those itsy-bitsy strings that the silkworm makes, and it does it fast.  I couldn't get past the fact that they are boiled alive inside their comfy little homes after they pick a partner and build a nest.  Seems quite unfair to do to something that is just looking for a nice honeymoon.  Matt was quite interested in this machine, and how it worked.

When the fabric is released, it is pulled over looms and then stretched by hand.

Anyone who has ever been to China before knows exactly what this is... the squatty-potty!  No, I didn't fall in or have a close call, and I came through the experience without pulling my pants down and then proceeding to urinate all over them, but I will say that now that I've checked this off of my list of "authentic Chinese" things to experience, I hope to never have to visit one of these again.

If that was a four-star potty, I would hate to see what a three star is!

This is the entrance to the Temple of Heaven, which was the emperor's place to worship the gods of nature.  It was for the emperor and only the emperor to go to.

Because of this, it has a lot of the same design elements as the Forbidden Palace.

Instead of glazed tile gold roofs, the color of the gods was blue, so all of the rooftops and most of the decorations were blue instead, including this ultra-cool water spout.

This disc made of marble is the center of the temple.  Only the emperor was allowed to approach it, as he saw himself (as did others) as the center of the earth and the world around it.  It was where he 'talked' to the gods and received 'assistance'.

View from the center, looking north.

There was a really long path between these two temples.  The center of that raised path was laid with a marble walkway, which was for the emperor's feet only.  It was about a 6 to 7 minute walk.  Wish I would have gotten a picture of it. 

Inside the temple:

There is a huge park surrounding the temple.  Many of the local residents come to walk, or play games.  This family was playing a game called 'shuttlecock' which is similar to American hackey-sack but the bag has a plume of brightly colored feathers attached to the back of it that helps guide it and slow it down.  Oscar tells us that early in the morning and again in the evening many of the elderly residents gather to practice tai chi together.  I would have liked to see that.

On some of the juniper trees in this curated park we saw red badges.  These badges marked the trees that were over 300 years old.  And they weren't very uncommon.  Most of this juniper forest was ancient.





Following the tour of the Temple of Heaven, we walked to a local Tea House, where I learned more about Chinese tea than I ever thought I could know.  Fortunately for me, this came with a demonstration and a taste testing.



After all of that, Matthew and I were exhausted.  So back to our hotel we go...

What a wonderful day! 

Now you have seen part of Beijing...... through our eyes.  :o)