Forbidden City

May 2, 2011

We woke up to clear blue skies, proving it is untrue that you will “never see the sun” in Beijing. (However, it does appear to be true that the sun is often a little smudged around the edges. I decided to look on the bright side and view the smog as an additional layer of sunscreen.) After lounging in the lobby of the awesome Drum Tower Youth Hostel for a while, drinking coffee and checking our email, we set off down the street a couple of blocks so I could get my first scallion pancake for breakfast. Ash and Megan had discovered jianbing on their first day here (the day I spent in delayed transcontinental flight), and with all their raving, I was eager to experience this delicious street food. It did not disappoint! In fact, the food in China was generally so good that it deserves a whole separate blog entry… After breakfast, we decided to tackle the subway to get to the Forbidden City. Our hostel was a short walk to the nearest station, with the Forbidden City only a few stops away.

Entrance to our subway stop

We had our Beijing and China guidebooks to point out some of the “must-sees” of the Forbidden City, and the explanatory signs in Chinese and English were helpful for “what are we looking at?” moments, so we were perfectly happy to see the place without the help of an official tour. In fact, it was preferable. The place is magnificent and impressive, but also too big to see it all, and many of the doors and halls start to look the same after a little while. It was great to see it at our own pace, pausing when we wanted, speeding up when we wanted, and finally leaving when we wanted.

Forbidden City!

Ash gets in formation with some soldiers

Good luck door studs

Wall detail

Ceiling detail

Roof detail

Descriptive signs in Chinese and English

It was crowded but not unbearably so; we were also impressed with how pleasant everyone was about taking pictures. At most of the major photo op locations, people graciously took turns, snapping photos and getting out of each other’s way, waiting patiently for their opportunity. I have never seen such good-natured tourist cooperation in the U.S.!

Lots of people wanted to take their picture with us because we were American. Or because we are famous. Whichever.

When the crowds did reach the point of being a little tiring, we found that the areas that charged a little extra admission to see something special (~10 RMB, about $1.50) were noticeably quieter.

Pretty door

Dragon from 9-dragon screen

 

As has been true my entire life, I tire of site-seeing approximately one hour before anyone else does. Fortunately, Megan and Ashley encouraged me to buck up for a little bit longer and we were able to see several areas that were worth the wait (including some of the pay-extra areas; if I did this again I would visit those areas first). Although there were places to buy snacks and drink, we eventually hit the point where we needed serious refreshment, so after about 4 hours in the Forbidden City, we left.

After being partially revived by beer and noodles in a nearby restaurant, we decided we were tired enough to deserve a taxi back to our neighborhood. We also decided we deserved foot massages. We had previously seen a cute massage parlor along what became our favorite street in Beijing, so we were dropped nearby. The massage parlor had a perfect little room for our trio: three chairs side-by-side. They had an extensive menu, but we opted for the basic 30 minute foot massage. Until several minutes into it, of course, when your defenses are down and they offer you more services… In this case, we ended up with a foot massage and a pedicure. The foot massage was powerful – both pleasant and painful. In my experience with massages, when you wince and pull away, the masseuse generally checks that you are okay and usually lightens the pressure. Apparently in China, wincing and pulling away are cues to push harder. It was tolerable though, and my feet did feel better at the end. The massage was ended by cupping our feet, which was also quite…intense. The whole experience was one of relaxation, plus some laughing, plus some laughing so we didn’t cry. Also, the massage parlor had beer!

So cheap! So many options!

Three chairs side-by-side

 

As we finished our day at a rooftop bar, enjoying more beer and delicious food, Megan and Ashley’s cell phones rang nearly simultaneously. A minute into their conversations, I could tell something serious was happening – without a Chinese cell phone so no one could call me, I was left whispering “What? What?!?”  at them for a moment or two. As it turned out, their parents had woken to the morning news in America and immediately called to let us know the big news. And that is how we found out that Osama bin Laden was dead.