Where are we today? The East China Sea, Bejing memories

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 Yesterday, we awakened at 4:30 to meet for our trip to Beijing at 5:30.  Beijing is about 2 1/2 hours inland from the Tianjin port. 

Our first stop was Tiananmen Square, where so much related to Chinese history and government has happened.  




I don’t have a picture of the exact building, but one of the modern buildings around the square is Mao’s Mausoleum. Though Chairman Mao wanted to be cremated, his body was embalmed and is kept in a specially cooled room.  Our tour didn’t include a visit, for which I am thankful.

All around the Square is modern China.  When we passed through the Tiananmen Gate (The Gate of Heaven Sent Peace), we passed into China of the 1400’s.  Since the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976 destroyed a lot of China’s traditional beauty, this massive complex of buildings from the Middle Ages is a treasure. I didn’t know before going was that The Forbidden City was just part of the old Imperial City, which must have been huge for that era. 



Dave and I thought we were already in the Forbidden City as we walked through the outskirts. Then, we came to a place where we had to queue for over two hours just to get into the heart of it.  Even these “Ming Princesses” had to wait. 😄. Periodically, men and women in uniforms would yell things through megaphones. At one point, an official yelled at an old woman. I don’t know what she did. 

Why was the line so long? 40,000 visitors a day visit! Plus, officials conducted random prolonged security checks..  Also, in contrast to usual policy, tour groups were intermingled with single ticket holders. That caused confusion at the entry points. Our tour guide was frantic as we all got separated in the crush.

Dave and I learned that we are not aggressive queue-ers, but the visitors to the Forbidden city are.  A Canadian behind us kept trying to keep things fair as people shoved in line, but the crowd did not share Canadian sensibilities,  

This post is long enough, so I will save the pictures of the mysterious Forbidden City for tomorrow.  Stay tuned fpr more about the Emperors and the Dragon Lady(Empress Cixi) tomorrow. 

Xiexie for following along with us! 




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