China 2007 - Day 4: Forbidden City

Our final day in China was spent at Tian'anmen Square (Gate of Heavenly Peace) area before we went could go into the Forbidden City. Prior to this trip, all I knew about Tian'anmen Squares was that it was where all these students were killed by the Government for wanting democracy. I was roughly 12 years old when this tragic event occurred and all I can recall about the event was a grainy video of a tank as it was about to run over a student protestor. I had no idea where we were until I saw a cheerful Olympics store stating where we were.

 

Immediately a soberness came over me and I started to take in the surrounding area from a different perspective. The cheerful pre-Olympic decorated streets were ignored and I saw this wide corridor as a site in which thousands were running for their lives on that fateful June 1989 day. As I stood in the center of the Square, surrounded by armed guards with machine guns watchfully surveying tourists for any signs of trouble, I just took in the area. I had not known that Tian'anmen Square was surrounded by so many grand governmental buildings, Chairman Mao's Tomb, and the entrance to the Imperial City.

The guide told me, through my cousin, that to view Chairman Mao, you would have get there roughly around 5 am and wait several hours to see him for a minute. This was AFTER you got a ticket that gave you permission to be allowed to stand in line.

On the side closest to us, was the Great Hall of the People, in which there was a huge Olympics countdown clock.

There was a certain line in the Square that you could not cross that was heavily guarded. I'm not sure why they chose this area to block off, except for that it was directly in front of the opening to the Imperial City and the huge Chairman Mao painting but still there was a 4 lane roadway and a huge sidewalk in front of that.

If you are a map geek, you should totally check it out on Google Earth, although, they don't have it in 3D mode yet, but still gives you an idea of how HUGE the Forbidden City is in size. Before we actually got into the "forbidden" part of the city, we came across a military exercise being done in one of the court yards.

There was just so many people trying to get in and that was still with our set entrance times. So we were instructed to follow the Maroon flag. Notice again, the yellow glazed tiles above the entrance into the Forbidden City. From what I understand they replaced the jade for preservation reasons.

One of the interesting stories relayed to me was that at some point, an assassin tried to dig his way under the city to kill the Emperor. After that incident, the city was redone to where the streets were now 10 m (32 feet) deep in solid concrete. O_o The familiar gray concrete bricks can be seen in all the works done by the Ming Dynasty and the Forbidden City is no exception.

The architecture was really amazing throughout and it was interesting to note that things were very similar to what I had seen in Korea but a much LARGER scale. Holy smokes!

I had to take a picture of the royal staircase. The Emperor was only allowed to be carried up the stairway. Yes, it is that steep! I can't imagine being one of the servants having to carry the Emperor up that staircase!

During the trip, there was a family with two young children. The well behaved older son and the young daughter, who wanted to hang out with the older girls. I didn't mind the little girl hanging out with us although, I don't know how the other 20 something Korean girls felt about her hanging out with them. She was a delight and boy was she passive aggressive toward her parents, especially her mother, when told to leave us older girls alone. She sulked for several hours, being this ball of gloom in all family photo shots, not responding to her mother's attempt to buy her happiness with Olympic souvenir toys and favorite candies. Cherry would have NONE of that. I just laughed at this spectacle that had taken place for almost 24 hours  (started in Day 3) and told her mother it would be an honor if Cherry could join me and Ji-Eun on the tour. Cherry immediately perked up and was a huge ball of light for the rest of the tour. She was so cute!

We also hung out with a Korean teenager, who was thrilled that I would want her to hang out with us and let her practice her English with me. Her comprehension and pronunciation was really amazing for a middle school student. I wished we got a picture of her! I have a picture of her brother, but not her. Strange. Anyway, she was a treat as well. :o)

Our China cousin had also given us an exotic Chinese fruit, called a Dragon Fruit. She said it was delicious, but we couldn't figure out how to eat it (we had no knife) and we figured we couldn't bring it back to Korea with us, so we gave it to the bus driver. Along with the various Chinese cookies and candies we picked up at a local convenience store. Talk about YUCK! The cookies all had a diesel taste to it. Isn't this the coolest looking fruit though?

 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip. Had a lot of amazing experiences, even though a lot of it was under the careful eye of the Chinese Government and it was pretty obvious that a lot of the trip was designed so we only saw the positive side of China. Which, let's face it, who would should you their slums or their messy rooms or their "crazy" relatives? ha!

There was a lot about China that was an eye opener to me as far as my preconceptions of how China was ruled. I was expecting to see the physical presence of this Communist Iron Fist and was surprised to see it so infrequently. Where was this "scary" China I heard so much about it? Where just breathing funny could get you in jail? But, you know, truth be said, I would rather not find out.

That's it for our trip! Thank you for joining me!