The Great Wall, the Forbidden City

The first day of our tour we drove out to see the Great Wall. It was a pretty magnificent sight from the top, but the stairs up felt like a joke after tackling an entire mountain in Japan. They had an optional toboggan ride down, which would’ve been a great idea on Mt. Fuji.

Pushing our way to the top.

Look at all that wall. Keeping out all those invaders.

On the way back we stopped by the Silk Market, a multilevel indoor shopping center where all the prices were negotiable. One person in our group got a dress for 5% of the price she was first told! Some mark up.

Monday we walked around the Forbidden City, the ancient capitol of China. The last Emperor’s school and quarters were on display. We started from the Imperial Gardens on the north side and worked out way south through the castle walls. I was impressed with the sheer scale of the place. There were tons of little details that were interesting, like the significance of the number 9 and the giant carved stone slab used to decorate a staircase that could only be moved in the winter when it was icy enough to slide it.

The northern entrance, where the Emperor's extensive harem was allowed to enter.

Hill of Accumulated Elegance. I'll name my kid that one day.

Lover's tree, interwined. Aaaaand that pose was not my idea. For the record.

One of a pair of guardian lions to ward off evil. She represents yin, negative energy, and is playing with a baby.

That giant stone slab I was talking about. It has 9 dragon carved on it.

The southern 'front' gate, where we exited. There was so much more space to this place.

The gates, with a 9x9 grid of round decorations. Said to be lucky if you touch all 9 in a row.

On the other end of the Forbidden City was Tiananmen Square. Nothing mentioned the protests that staged there--in fact, gatherings of all kinds are forbidden (ha) now. The place was crawling with men in uniform, and a display was being put up in honor of the world expo being held in Shanghai.

Chairman Mao is still honored, though even the Chinese acknowledge he wasn't a saint.

Tiananmen Square was large but otherwise mundane.

We headed to the train station for an overnight train to our guide Howard’s hometown, Xi’an. Again, the size of the place was unreal. The train station was immense and packed with people. I actually got a little anxious from the size of the crowd, which hasn’t happened in a long time. Anyways, we picked up some snacks and went on our way.