Beijing's Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square

Forbidden City in Beijing

For our last full day in China we planned visits to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. We had a quick breakfast in the dining room at the Ritz Carlton then boarded the bus at 8:30. Our plans are subject to change a bit since the national holiday begins on October 1. The Chinese “Golden Week” beginning October 1 celebrates that day in 1949 when the People’s Republic of China October 1st 1949 was founded.  It is much like the Independence Day (July 4) celebrations in the US.  It turns out that Tiananmen Square is being prepared this morning and is closed to the public. That caused us to make a change and do our visit to the Forbidden City first.

In the Forbidden City

Patrick took our entry tickets to the gate for us and we walked through the area where the Emperor and high officials resided. Construction of the Forbidden City complex took place in from 1406 to 1420 and was the Imperial residence until the early 20th Century. It was called Forbidden City because common people could not enter the area. It was limited to the imperial family and employees.

There were 9999 rooms in the residence which is important because the number 9 is very lucky in China. Also, the emperor stayed in a different room every night to avoid assassination attempts. Emperors had multiple wives and many concubines who needed space as well.

Forbidden City

We saw large copper and iron pots that would store water in case of fire. In winter there would be warming fires under the pots to prevent freezing. The floor of the entire complex was covered with 30 layers of stones in alternating directions. This was to prevent threats from tunneling into the Forbidden City.

The area was very crowded since many Chinese citizens are off work in preparation for the upcoming Golden Week national holiday celebrations. We toured many of the buildings and took many photos before boarding the bus for lunch.

Brass pot in the Forbidden City

We were very happy to have a beautiful autumn day. There was abundant sunshine and temperatures in the mid 70s. A light breeze kept us very comfortable. We have always heard about the terrible smog in Beijing but we saw none of that in our three days in the city. I am certain there are days with temperature inversions or other factors that add to the pollution problem but we had great luck from the weather during our stay in Beijing.

Lunch was one of the best of our trip. At a local restaurant we had another lazy Susan family style lunch but had some unique selections with different seasonings or preparations than we have had. There was curry baked fish and very good Kung Pao chicken. Of course there was course after course of vegetables, noodles and rice.  Everyone enjoyed the meal.

Cindy & Mary across from Tiananmen Square

After lunch we took the bus to Tiananmen Square but it was still closed by the government to prepare for the national holiday week. We still had to pass through security just to walk across the street from the square. We saw the building where Chairman Mao’s body still lies in state. We walked past the major courtyards and the China Museum. There was significant police and military presence since major political figures will be in the area throughout the coming week. We learned that Tiananmen means "gate of heavenly peace."  It was built during the Ming Dynasty as a major gate leading to the Forbidden City.

We didn’t spend a great deal of time at Tiananmen Square and headed back to the Beijing Ritz Carlton. We got back around 3 pm then decided to take a walk around the city. We walked east from the hotel in the financial district through residential neighborhoods.

Tiananmen Square

Around 4:30 we decided to start back toward the hotel. We needed to meet Patrick at 5:15 to give him our evaluation and gratuity. We also needed to pick up our passports from him in preparation for our departure. On our way back to the hotel we walked through another Hutong that looked a little higher end than the one we visited a few days ago. Patrick had told us that some Hutong apartments have higher rent than newer condos further from the city center. Their location near the city center in Beijing can make a Hutong dwelling very desirable.

We got back to our room in plenty of time to get Patrick’s tip and our evaluation down to him. Since the bulk of the participants were eating early before going to a show on Kung Fu we decided to wait until their bus left before going to dinner to avoid the crowd.

The dining room at the Ritz Carlton was nearly empty when we arrived around 6:45. The buffet had several chicken and shrimp dishes as well as a seafood bar. We had several cooked dishes and a generous serving of fruit. We finished with the prepared desserts. On our way out we chatted briefly with a Keith and Krystal about our experiences traveling in Germany and wished them well on their upcoming trip to Hawaii.

After dinner we went up to the room to pack for our 12:30 departure from the hotel tomorrow afternoon. Our flight is scheduled to depart at 5 pm on Monday evening and will land in Detroit at 5:40 on Monday evening. We will have a short layover in Detroit then hop on a flight scheduled to land in Cincinnati around 9:30 on Monday night. If all goes as planned I will go in to work on Tuesday. After a 13 ½ flight I don’t know how alert I will be at work but I will give it my best effort.

After we finished packing Mary and Cindy started planning our next trips while I looked for something on television. With 50 channels in Chinese and only 3 in English it narrows the choices down a bit.

We plan to turn in early and perhaps get out for a walk around Beijing on Monday morning. It will be interesting to see the city on the national holiday.