On The Move To China - Day 2

I am on the move to China with the girlfriend Linda. First stop – Beijing. With a guide and driver at our disposal, we hit the road bright and early today! The skies were blue, not a cloud in the sky, it was beautiful day for sightseeing, eating and shopping!

Our first stop was Tiananmen Square where we heard the tales of years gone by. From the birth of communism to the 1989 massacre, Tiananmen Square is rich in history. We by passed the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong after seeing the long line of tourist waiting in line. The square was filled with people, birds, police mini-vans, big screen TV's and did I mention people! There were tourist from all over China and and they seemed to be heading in the same direction a us - to the Forbidden City.



The Forbidden City was huge! It is the largest and best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. The Forbidden City was off-limits to commoners for more than 500 years and those who worked there were rarely permitted to leave the walled city. Look on-line to research this if you are interested – with 980 buildings and 9,000 rooms there is too much to write about! I will say . . .my favorite building was “The Hall of Preserved Harmony”.

After walking for 3 hours in the Forbidden City, we headed to lunch before touring the Summer Palace, a summer retreat for emperors of the Qing dynasty. Kunming Lake is the focal point of the gardens at the Palace. Emperors of old usually travelled by boat from the Forbidden City to the Palace– what a lovely ride it would have been. The 17 arched bridge was amazing spanning over the lake to a small island. The Lake area was huge and we toured only a small portion. It would take a couple days to enjoy the whole area.

Our last stop of the day before heading to shop was the Temple of Heaven. The temple sits on a hill in the city enjoying great views of the city. The hall has burned to the ground several times since it was first constructed. It is ironic that this is where the Emperor came to pray for rain, good weather, good harvest, etc. and it was destroyed every time due to lightening!

We did stop at the Hutong shopping mall before heading to dinner. Can’t tell you what I bought – Sir might be reading this!

I traveled here with Sir in the late 90’s and it has changed! Gone are the masses of bicycle riders – cars, buses and a subway system has changed this. Also, many of the buildings we went to today were renovated for the 2008 Olympics – the color was amazing – unfortunately, Sir and I did not see this before.


Our guide, Lynn and the front of the Forbidden City