Day 57: Beijing, China

Our guide Julia met us at the hotel to take us to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City for the morning part of the tour. Little did we know while planning this trip that we'd be visiting Tiananmen Square on the 20th anniversary of the events that transpired here. Luckily much has changed in China over the past 20 years and there are much fewer frustrations amongst the citizens of China than 20 years ago. Regardless, security was high in the area, media was not allowed into the Square and we were searched upon entry.

Tiananmen (translated as "Gate of Heavenly Peace") Square was first built in 1420 (Ming Dynasty) as the entrance to the Imperial City, within which the Forbidden City is located. Surrounding the square are government buildings that were inspired by help of the Russians, and standing in the square does have an odd Russian presence (although I've never been there, maybe my perception from random movies).

At the northern end of the square, and across the street is a large picture of Mao Zedong, which marks the entrance into the Forbidden City.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen

Next we walked across the street to the Forbidden City, and it's not called 'city" for nothing. This complex is huge, and takes a while to walk through. Built from 1406-1420, nearly 1 kilometer long, and 3/4 kilometer wide. It consists of over 900 buildings and over 8.000 bays of rooms. Used by the emporers of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1400's - 1911), the complex was the center of the emporer's home and activities.






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City

We then took a break and had lunch at a good local Chinese restaurant and then continued on to the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was built at the same time as the Forbidden City and was used for annual ceremonies of prayer to heaven for a good harvest. The main palace is an architectural marvel as it is built using interlocking wood, and no nails.



(Ilana & Julia)

(random wedding photo shoot going on at the Temple of Heaven. Apparently new couples love to do this where they spend an entire day and pay for a crew to follow them around to take tons of pictures. When people come to visit it is common for show off your wedding photos.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_heaven

On the way home we swung by a silk factory and got a demonstration on how they make silk.


(Silkworms eating leaves, if you place your ear close to them you get hear them munching on the leaves)

(Machine that combined silk strands from about 10 cocoons each and spin them together to form a single thread.)

And lastly a good Sichuan dinner at a local restaurant near our hotel, where I said "hello" in Chinese to the couple sitting next to us and the wife starting speaking quickly in Chinese and I had to confess that was all I knew.



FJ