A Chinese Whirlwind: Part 2

The next morning we took a taxi to Tianamen Square and walked up through the Forbidden City. This sounds simple enough but took a long time and was very taxing on our feet. It was, however, amazing and worth the trip. So... lots of pictures...


Tianamen Square


The entrance to the Forbidden City


About to enter, Mao is looming.


Walking in (I really liked the lighting in this archway.)


Panorama of the second entrance. David's head is on the right.


Closer to the walls


An idea of the scale


Now we are inside (and we found the Starbucks)


Forbidden rooftops


Further towards the north of the walk we came to the gardens


Boys, Dragon, Goldfish


Pretty


And now we come out the north end and look back across the moat (not pictured) to see the wall that surrounds the city. If there was someone standing over by the trees then you would have a better idea of how huge the wall is. The small tree is about 20 feet tall.


One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing a bunch of men in the park standing around playing various games. These guys were playing Go, but some others were playing cards, chess, and dominoes. There was also lots silence followed by loud spurts of arguing and yelling about various rules and strategies. It was great.

Get ready for part 3!

Paul