Tiananmen Square & The Forbidden City,
We set off just after 9am for a day of sight seeing. Our accommodation is in Qianmen, walking distance to Tiananmen Square & The Forbidden City which is very convenient!
The first stop is Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen square is basically a square in the city centre of Beijing, it's name comes from a gate & means 'gate of heavenly peace' the gate is found north of the square & separates it from The Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square has great cultural significance to the people & has hosted many symbolic events in history. One of these events is Mao Zedong proclaiming the founding of the people's republic of China which happened in October 1949. The anniversary of this event is still celebrated every year. In Tiananmen Square you will find the mausoleum of Mao Zedong, the national museum of China, monument to the people's hero's & the great hall of the people.
When we first glanced at Tiananmen Square, it was absolutely packed! Some of the worst crowding we had see in China. The security checks started from 2 streets away & it took us an hour to get into the square. There was a line to stand in front of each thing, with the biggest line for the museum probably being over 2 hours. After a particularly nasty jab to the ribs, I decided I had seen enough. We made our way, battling through the crowds to get to The Forbidden City. As we walked by a section of the outer wall we were approached by a Chinese lady called Linda who showed us through to a less crowded entrance to The Forbidden City which involved a pleasant walk through a park. In exchange we took a side trip into Linda's art exhibition to view some of her work & her fellow uni students work. Linda is studying calligraphy & did both of our names, the symbol for Eternal Happiness, Beijing & the year 2018. We gave her a 30Yuan donation to thank her.
I love what she did, I can't wait to frame them when we get home.
We walked into The Forbidden City & we were truly amazed by the grand, vast structure. It is huge! The Forbidden City is an imperial palace structure that was occupied by the emperor's and their household for 500 years, from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty.
The complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 180 acres including gardens.
The palace flaunts Chinese traditional Palatial architecture, some of the best we have seen in the whole of China. In 1987 The Forbidden City was listed as a world heritage site & is listed by UNESCO as it contains the best preserved & largest collection of wooden structures in China.
Today the city houses the palace Museum collection & receives 16 million visits annually.
We spent a few hours walking through the city, getting lost, trying to avoid the crowded sections before deciding to leave. It took us 45 minutes to walk to the exiting gate & cross the 2 moats.
The complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 180 acres including gardens.
The palace flaunts Chinese traditional Palatial architecture, some of the best we have seen in the whole of China. In 1987 The Forbidden City was listed as a world heritage site & is listed by UNESCO as it contains the best preserved & largest collection of wooden structures in China.
Today the city houses the palace Museum collection & receives 16 million visits annually.
We spent a few hours walking through the city, getting lost, trying to avoid the crowded sections before deciding to leave. It took us 45 minutes to walk to the exiting gate & cross the 2 moats.
After all our exploring we were starving!! Nothing a plate of dumplings, noodles, sautéed vegetables & beer can't fix. Feeling very full, We waddled through Beijing for an hour to the Mongolian Embassy.
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