Tian An Men Square & the Forbidden City

Bob's comments: "We left Thursday evening after classes, packing and something to eat. We left our apartment shortly after 7 pm and walked to the south gate--there was a taxi unloading and we hopped in for the airport. The driver should have taken out extended warranty on the horn as he was on it all the time. We got the the airport in good time and checked in. The flight departed right on time at 10:20 pm and arrived at Beijing right on time at midnight. Our one suit case was on the carousel just as we arrived to pick it up. We had a little trouble finding the taxi stand but soon saw a sign that said taxis. We got a cab and went straight to our hotel. No problems with check in and at 1 am we were just going to bed. The hotel was the nicest one that we've stayed in since we've been here. It had good western food for breakfast--bacon, eggs cooked to order and a good selection of food. At 8:30 we left for Tian An Men square and the Forbidden Palace."

Tian An Men means "Gate of Heavenly Peace."

The bottom of the monument in the middle of the square
with carvings of the struggle for the People's Republic

Main Entrance to the Imperial City

The forbidden city was about 100 times bigger than I expected. It really is a city. We went through gate after gate and past building after building. We spent only two and one half hours there and just had time to walk from one end to the other.

I think this is the Hall of Supreme Harmony


Is this the Hall of Central Harmony or the Palace of Heavenly Purity?

This is the largest stone carving in the palace and weighs more than 200 tons. It has interlocking lotus patterns all around, curling waves at the bottom and nine dragons in the clouds in the middle. It was quarried from the western suburbs of Beijing and transported to the Forbidden City in winter when water was sprinkled along the route to make an ice road to drag it along.

We didn't get to see Mao. I assume we just didn't have enough time. There was a long lineup to get into his tomb. When I mentioned it to the guide he told me I didn't like Mao and Mao probably wouldn't like me so it was better that we didn't meet.

This was all the traditional building we saw in Beijing. Everything else has been torn down and replaced with sky scrapers.