This was our day to explore Beijing, though the weather and jet lag curtailed plans a bit.
First (and as it turned out, last) stop was the Forbidden City, where we encountered a long line to clear security into the area around Tiananmen Square and the Palace Museum. This process is new since I was here 11 years ago.
One enters the Forbidden City after passing through the Gate of Heavenly Peace (below) and a series of enormous courtyards.
Inside there are guides offering their services, but we opted for a GPS audio tour which was pretty nifty; it knew what area we were in and provided the appropriate commentary as we wanted through the complex.
The palace was built in 14 years in the early 1400s and served until 1912 as the political center of China for 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The complex, which includes 980 buildings and nearly 10,000 rooms, is the most visited art museum in the world, with over 14 million visitors annually. Surrounded by a 170 ft wide moat and 26 ft high walks, the palace was well defended.
There are beautiful, impressively huge buildings and courtyards.
Auspicious creatures decorate the premises.
Workers are busy with never ending restoration efforts.
And intricately carved mythical beasts stand guard on the eaves.
Outside of the complex, northwest corner.
It was beautiful. But crowded. And hot (upper 90s). And we were jet lagged and thirsty. So we took a cab to a dumpling place recommended in our guidebook, but it was closed. We ended up dragging ourselves back to our hotel through the descending smog and humidity, grabbed a late lunch and crashed until early evening.
We walked down WangFuJing street after sunset when things had cooled down, people watching and window shopping. This famous shopping street is the epitome of China's blend of communism and capitalism, with an emphasis on the latter. You can buy anything from a Peugeot to a grilled sparrow on a stick. Or water, which is what we brought back to our hotel for our trip to to the Great Wall and Ming Tombs tomorrow.
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When we were there in 2006 , they were cleaning off many years of dirt and smog in preparation for the Olympics It looks nice.
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