The Forbidden City - Beijing

Get comfy. This post has the most pictures I have ever posted at once! The Forbidden City and the Summer Palace were absolutely astounding so we took a TON of pictures.

The Forbidden City (aka Imperial Palace) was built by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. It served as the Emperor's home for almost 5 centuries and covers 720,000 sq meters. The "Forbidden" portion of the name refers to the fact that no one could enter or leave the palace without the Emperor's permission. The city is surrounded by a 26 foot high wall. The palace is broken into 3 phases: political, residential and the garden (entertainment). It is also a World Heritage Site.

We had to enter in the North gate (Gate of Divine Might), because of the celebration preparations (normally you would enter in through the Tiananmen Gate). This gate is where most members had to enter and it led to the gardens in the back of the palace:

Remember the number 9? Count the 9 golden door nails across and 9 golden door nails down :) For reference, I'm 5'3" - this door is gigantic! There are supposedly 9,999 rooms within the palace.

Once you came in the North gate, it split up into sections.

This is the Hill of Accumulated Elegance where the Emperor would play "hide-and-seek" with members of his concubine. The Emperor would have a concubine of 3,000, all within the ages of 13-16.

This side of the palace was strictly for the members of the concubine - and they weren't allowed anywhere else:

a pavillion where members of the concubine could have lunch or tea:

this side of the palace was huge!

The gilded lions in front of the Gate 0f Celestial Purity - it separates the inner and outer courts:

a look at the ceiling that hasn't been restored:

The back of the Hall of Preserving (Protecting) Harmony:

The long stone in the picture is 54.4 feet long and 10.1 feet wide (longest single stone carving in China):

a close-up of the stone carving:

You can kind of get a feeling for how enormous this compound is by looking at the rooftops:

All of the "white" next to us and behind us is carved marble:

The Hall of Middle Harmony is on the left and the Hall of Supreme Harmony is on the right:

You can see the animals on the corners of the rooftops - the more animals on a rooftop ridge, the more important the building:

The front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony (we got tired of taking "normal" pose shots):

the amount of marble used here is amazing:

This is the throne in the Hall of Middle Harmony. The emperor would use this area strictly for getting ready for celebrations, changing his wardrobe, prepping for rituals, etc:

the back of the Hall of Supreme Harmony:

a closer look at some of the amazing detailing on the buildings:

Large cauldrons were placed throughout the palace in case of fire. They also started fires underneath them in the winter time so they could have hot water (they are situated so there is space beneath them):

Imperial roof decoration of the highest status on the roof ridge of the Hall of Supreme Harmony:

This is a dragon-turtle (seriously), and it is a symbol of longevity:

directly in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony:

The yard in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony:

The Hall of Supreme Harmony:

Looking back at the Hall of Supreme Harmony from near the Meridian Gate (Gate of Supreme Harmony):

the Chinese version of the Shisa :) The difference is that with the Chinese version, the female has her paw on a baby, and the male has a paw on a ball (this one is female):

Me and Lucy behind the Meridian Gate (this is also where the Emperor could only cross the middle bridge):

We really couldn't get over how expansive this palace was ... and it was all built for ONE person!!

Along with the 26 foot high wall, this moat surrounds the palace and is 6 meters deep and is 170 feet wide:

the Tiananmen Gate all lit up:

Tiananmen Square

After the silk factory we went and ate lunch. I'm pretty sure the meat we were eating was not chicken.

Us in the middle of Tiananmen Square in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes (125 ft high). Tiananmen Square is literally the "yard" in front of the Forbidden Palace. A feng shui requirement is that every piece of property is required to have a "yard" (some piece of land) in the front of the house no matter how small the house is. Tiananmen Square is 440,000 sq meters and is the largest city square in the world.

The columns represent the different tribes within China:

There were HUGE monitors displaying the different sites within China for all the visitors:

They were getting ready for the 60th celebration of communism (it was held in Tiananmen Square). This is the Tiananmen Gate of the Forbidden Palace, and the portrait is of Mao Zedong (Chairman Mao):

Looking at the main gate with all the preparations for the ceremony:

You can see the bridges to the gate behind us - the emperor was the only one allowed to cross the middle bridge. The empress was allowed to use it once in her life - the day she married the emperor.

The square all lit up at night:

Silk Factory - Beijing

We went and visited a silk factory in the middle of Beijing. It was a really neat tour and we learned a lot about the history of the silk road and the silk industry.

Here is one of the early silk looms:

They showed us the progression of the silk worm:

After the silk worm is boiled, the thread is placed on this machine to unwind the silk from the cocoon:

Michael took some video of how they take the larvae out and begin to stretch the silk:

Here is a video of how they stretch the silk to go into blankets:

Then they let us stretch a piece of the silk!

Michael pulled too much and they had to fix it :)

Michael outside the factory with our guide Lucy ... and all of the silk that we bought:

Temple of Heaven - Beijing

Our first official tourist destination in Beijing was The Temple of Heaven (aka Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest). It was built by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty from 1406-1420 so that the emperor could pray in the summertime for a good harvest and in the wintertime to give thanks. During the prayers, ritual sacrifices were given to the gods. There are no pictures of their gods in the temple as to not offend them by portraying them incorrectly - there are just tablets with the god's name on it. Also, the structure is completely free of nails - it was stuck together with sticky rice. The number 9 is said to represent the emperor and is prevalent throughout all the sites we visited (i.e. 9 steps up to the Temple, 9 pegs in the doors, etc).

Here is Michael with one of the marble dragon water spouts:

Michael right in front of The Temple of Heaven:

a closer view of the structure:

Inside the temple:

Showing where the sacrifices were held:

The Temple of Heaven has four inner, twelve middle and twelve outer pillars. The four inner pillars represent the four seasons, and the 12/12 represents the 12 months and 12 traditional Chinese hours. All 28 pillars together represent the time concept of the Chinese lunar calendar.

Blue is a heavenly color and yellow/gold is for the master of the earth:

We were there when they were preparing for the 60th anniversary of communism. We flew out of Beijing the day before they celebrated - thank goodness (all flights were grounded)! Here is a pic of some of the decorations going up:

Us in front of the Temple:

a picture of Emperor Yongle:

Michael caught me taking notes :)

How beautiful!

Beijing, China

We first landed in Shanghai, where we had to board a bus to transfer to another airport to catch our connection to Beijing. I think we were on the bus from "Speed". We were scared. Mind you, we're on the freeway going about 60 mph in a bus - changing 3-4 lanes at a time without slowing down. This was our introduction to Chinese driving.

We did make it to the next airport where we were promptly raped at airport security. It was the worst security checkpoint I have EVER been through! Eventually we got to Beijing ...

Here is Michael looking out at the city of Beijing on our first morning:

I was bringing back my old barista skills and making us some coffee in the french press:

This building was awesome!

Our first tourist spot in Beijing was The Temple of Heaven. To get to The Temple of Heaven, you have to walk through Tiantan Park. China does take very good care of their elders - they give them free public transportation to any of the public parks so they can socialize, dance, sing, play cards, practice Tai Chi, play hackey-sack, etc. This old man was practicing his calligraphy with a giant brush and water on the sidewalk (he was writing ancient Chinese poetry).

Some of the beautiful gardens in the park:

A whole group of people doing a choreographed dance with a sword:

Me standing next to the the "long corridor". The "long corridor" is packed full of people singing, acting, playing cards, etc. We received a lot of stares while walking through here. We also learned to say "Boo-yow" (that is my interpretation of how it sounds) ... it means "I'm not buying anything" and gets some of the vendors to leave you alone. We used it A LOT.

Here is a view of the top portion of the walkway:

Me outside of The Temple of Heaven:

There was even a ribbon-twirling group:

This was headed back to our hotel at night - the buildings were all lit up:

Enjoying a tasty beverage at the Hard Rock right next to our hotel at the end of day 1:

Really?? People read this thing?!

We just got back from China ... oh, the brainwashing of that country. I should have some good stories to post with a TON of pictures. I wasn't allowed on this site at all while in-country. Shocker. I guess that is a good thing b/c I would have had to censor my comments if I had posted from there :) We get to get our bebes back tomorrow too ... I can't wait!

On to something more fun - Miss Heather (from This is the story of a girl ...) gave my little 'ol blog an award! Whoop! I didn't think anyone but our parents read this! Arigato Miss Heather!

Here are the rules of the "One Lovely Blog Award"

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered (I don't have much time to blog-stalk so I chose some that I read pretty regularly). Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Drumroll please - my 15! Err ... 9 (I told you I didn't have time to follow many blogs anymore!):

Just another day in paradise

Loving and living life

This is us ...

Get your floaties ...

Arizona lewis

The Bowmans in Okinawa

The Swenson family

The Carlson family

D-Dawg