Beijing in the fall

This is a map of the Forbidden City which is what this entry is about.

This is a very long entry with lots and lots of pictures and not much commentary for them. Linda's description of the day is at the end, although she wrote it about a week ago and has been waiting for me to post pictures. I hope you enjoy these photos. To me the Forbidden City is in the details.

For those of you who don't know, the Forbidden City is huge - 800 buildings and >8000 rooms.

This is the train station in Tianjin.
The Gardens in Tianenman Square as we approached the Forgidden City.

Tianenman Square and the Great Hall of the People.

Linda being a tourist along with all the other tourists.

A replica of the Bird's Nest - Olympic Stadium.

People can get dressed up in imperial costumes and get their pictures taken. We got our picture taken with some people who had gotten dressed up.

The entrance to the Forbidden City.

A refurbished door. Later there is a picture of a door that is yet to be refurbished.

A moat.

This bricked area gave a sense of age. The bricks were crumbling and grass grew between the bricks. This gives a nice perspective with the building in the background.


There are many museums with many Ming & Qing dynasty artifacts and treasures.

A very cool arched walkway.

We heard it wasn't very crowded the day we were there but it felt very crowded.

People sat on these benches for lunch. They were scattered throughout the city. Detail from a door panel.

The roofs of most of the buildings had been redone with tile. The detail work is still amazing.

A door in disrepair. A detail from the door.

Tile work from one of the walls of one of the buildings.

Us overlooking on of the squares leading up to a throne room well into the city.

These large metal caldrons were found throughout the city. I like the handle attachments.

A throne room for one of the emporers.

Flat stones make up this mosaic.

A garden located near the exit of the Forbidden City.

The three of us outside the Forbidden City, ready for our next adventure.

Before entering an area it is good to know the groundrules. this sign was on a wall near where we went into the hutong
The Hutong are old areas of Beijing which are a square of building around a courtyard. Many of these buildings have now been turned into shops.

A native dress for sale. An artist at work. She never looked at me or acknowledged my presence, although I took several pictures of her.

The same decorations as those on the roof s of the buildings in the Forbidden City but not refurbished.

A man sawing a board into three pieces. They are smiling because they think it is very strange that I am taking their picture.

A bicycle built for three.





An outdoor bar waiting for dark.

We ate at a Persian restaurant named Rumi. a very nice place. Another first for Monkey. She liked the food.




Walking around Beijing after sunset.

Ready to be home. On the train in Beijing.
Two more night views of Beijing shopping. I got these in the wrong order but mostly the pictures are in order this time.

James and I recently took a day trip to Beijing and it was great! We did sightseeing AND shopping so we were all happy. Monkey joined us as a guide and energy generater. We left early in the morning, 0630 to catch the bullet train. Our speed reached approximately 170 miles per hour at one point and the ride was smooth even though. The atmosphere was like on an airplane only more room and bigger windows. We were offered a bottled water about half way through the trip. It was to take 25 minutes but because of traffic on the rail it took about an hour. The return trip was as advertised, though, about 25 minutes. Monkey's father graciously offered to pick us up at the rail station when we returned so we were greeted with smiles from him and hugs from her mother. Great people, even though we can't communicate with words.

We arrived in the south side of Beijing and the Forbidden City was on the north so we took a bus to our destination. Monkey was able to find the right bus to take and was very proud of herself. She had also done some homework so was prepared with information about how to get places. The Chinese seem to always do their homework, even when not asked to do it!

We started out at Tianamin Square which was quite crowded but the people were all so friendly and in the vacation mode.

The Forbidden City was huge! I loved the museums of Ming Dynasty Treasures. There were several of them along the sides of the city and you would go into each one which were about 1/2 block long with the treasures displayed along the walls some in glass cases. We were in and out of several but not all of them. The pictures will tell the story along with James.

We brought snacks for lunch and ate on the benches provided. Monkey was supplied with water, cakes with sesame filling that her mom made (delicious but rich), apples, pears, jao fruit, grapes, hard boiled eggs. We brought only almonds and apples thinking we would eat lunch out. We are learning that people in China come prepared probably incase there is no food along the way. It is very different than we are used to. We did find, though after we ate that there was a small cafeteria in the city but we did not investigate the types of food.

There were gift shops there with the typical touristy things but not too expensive and a parklike area at the end.

We went from there to the Hutong District. We tried to get a cab but were not successful so Monkey again used her skill in finding the right bus to take. She saved us lots of money on this trip.

Hutong is a typical lane or small street in Beijing that originated during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). "Hutong" is a Mongolian word, meaning "water well". During that time, water well is the settlement around which people lived. There are tens of thousands of hutongs surrounding the Forbidden City. In the past, Beijing was composed of countless courtyards. Hutongs were formed when people left a passageway between two courtyards to make entering them more convenient.
As the symbol of Beijing City, a hutong has its own layout and structure, which makes it a wonder in the world. When taking a bird's eye view of Beijing, you will find the combination of hutongs and courtyards just like an orderly chessboard with delicate gardens, fine rockeries, and ancient ruins. Hutongs have witnessed the development of Beijing. Where there is a hutong, there is a story.

In order to get there we had to walk through a park around a pond. There were lots of touristy bars and restuarants and a very nice walk.

When we arrived, we saw that this area was lined with shops of very interesting wares. We found some Belgium chocolates and a cool tablecloth.

We took a long bus from the Hutong District to our final destination, the Rumi restuarant. It was a busy time, around 6 pm and the traffic was congested. It took about 45 minutes of standing in a crowded bus that filled up more at each stop without emptying much at all. Not a bad experience, just interesting! It was not worth the money we saved this time!

The Rumi is a Persian restuarant owned by a relative of Pricilla and John's. It was the most western restuarant that we have been to in China but the prices were still reasonable. The food was great including hummes, yogurt, nan type bread, baked veggie dish and a chicken dish. This was the first time Monkey ate this type of food and she said she really liked it. She ate like she did but knew when it was time to quit refusing a sample of cheese cake. Darn!

We had a great trip!