A very long day touring Beijing

Beijing Day 2 : 

We were up early and Lynn said, “Wanna go to Tian’anmen Square this morning for Flag raising?”. So we rushed to get stuff together and proceeded to make a forced march of 15 minutes to Tian’anmen Square. 

We arrived about 10 minutes before sunrise 0527 and found a pretty good spot. My guess is there were 5000 people there this morning.  We had a fair photo spot and were glad this worked out well this morning. We again took the subway back to the Hotel and had breakfast, which was a very nice buffet and they had a crepes station. We then planned the activities for the day, starting at the Imperial Palace, then to Jingshan Park, next to Beihai Park, and if time allows to the Drum and Bell Towers. . 

At about 0730 we struck out from the hotel and headed back to the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City). Having been there a few times before we kinda have a good idea of how to visit, well, at least where the bathrooms are. 

We arrived at the Ticket Booth a few minutes before 0800. The ticket sales start at 0830 sharp. If one is over 60 years old, cut the ticket price in 1/2. So 30RMB per person is what we paid. Always have an ID with you to prove how old you are, plus you now need an ID to buy a ticket, one ID per ticket.

The central court yard is where one can progress through the Gate of Supreme Harmony and onto the Hall of Supreme Harmony, next is the Hall of Central Harmony, followed by the Hall of Preserved Harmony. The Emperor in his day would progress thru these halls in the reverse order I have listed, stopping and resting as he progressed. The final stop is the Hall of Supreme Harmony. 

One must remember you will be seeing the Forbidden City with 80,000 of your closest friends. Well, you will be close by the time you leave. I can best describe the action to get in position to take a photo of the thrones, as being akin to the scrum of a rugby game, a whole lot of pushing and shoving going on. 

At the Hall of Preserved Harmony, we started to make our way to the Imperial Garden on the East side of the city.  This was a residential area for many concubines and other individuals.  Here is a little educational tip about roof decorations on the corners of the roof that you will find in China:

Along the ridges, a row of small figures is placed. These are often made of glazed ceramic and form an outward marching procession. Here we see the imperial yellow glaze reserved for the emperor. At the tail of the procession will be an imperial dragon, representing the authority of the state. At the head of the procession will be a man riding a Phoenix.  One legend suggests that this represents a minion of the emperor who grew greedy for power and was hanged from the roof gable for treason. Another version of this figurine is an immortal riding a Fenghuag - bird. Yet another interpretation is that this is a person serving the emperor, being watched by the following beasts.

In between will be mythical beasts, usually an odd number of them. The mythical beasts are set to pounce upon the man and devour him should he stray from performing his duties with faithfulness and rectitude. 

The number of beasts indicate the importance of the building and the stature of the person living there. So the Emperor will have nine beasts, and other buildings will have less, depending on the importance of the individual. 

We did discover a new area of the Forbidden City called the Hall of Prolonged Happiness. This is an area where the restoration is just started. 

We then made our way towards and through the Imperial Garden and exited through the Gate of Divine Prowess. 

As you exit the Forbidden City, one finds the entrance to Jingshan park is located just across the street.  The cost to enter was 10RMB per person. Here you find the highest point and center of Beijing. To get to this highness point, you must traverse Jingshan Hill. Located on this hill are five pagoda-like pavilions. Traversing east to west they are as follows: First is the All-round View, next is the Wonder and Appreciation, then the highest is All Time Spring, descending to the Gathering Fragrance and finally Eye Feasting. The first and fifth pavilions are identical as well as the second and fourth. 

From the top pavilion one gets great views of the Forbidden City, Beihai Park, and the city of Beijing. 

After we left Jingshan Park, we turned right as we exited and walked toward Beihai Park. Here we found a little outdoor kitchen and decided to have lunch. We had steam buns and and soft drinks and water all for 24 RMB or about $4 USD. 

After lunch we were off to explore Beihai Park. On our last visit we very much enjoyed this park for the buildings and the grounds. Even when this park is crowded, it can still be relaxing and tranquil. After entering, we made our way over to Jade Flowery Island and circumnavigated it, enjoying the roof lines and flowers. Here the roof ornaments are a green jade colored glaze. We then made our way around the lake to find the Nine Dragons Screen. 

This Nine Dragon Screen is the only screen to have nine dragons on both sides. This was built in the mid 1700’s and is about 27 meters long and 6.65 meters high and is about 1.4 meters thick.  There are about 635 dragons in total on this screen hidden amongst the nine larger dragons.

As we had plenty of time, we decided to walk over to the Drum and Bell Towers. Along the way we walked along Shichahai Lake. This is an area filled with many restaurants. 

The Drum and Bell Towers served as a clock for the people of early Beijing. The morning work day would start with the ringing of the bell and the work day would end with the beating of the dusk drum. This was abolished when The Last Emperor, Pu Yi, left the Forbidden City. 

We made our way to a metro station and headed back to our Hotel, stopping for a big jug of water. We seem very thirsty. 

Thus ended a long day of walking about 17 miles and over 29000 steps. The weather was pretty darn nice temp in the low 70’s and a nice breeze which helped keep the smog away. 

Time to organize for our transfer to a different hotel and meeting of our group.