Day Nine: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Hutong Village

After getting accustomed to the breakfast arrangements at our Beijing hotel, we were on the bus to join the city peak hour traffic on our way to Tiananmen Square. While most Australians would know Tiananmen Square because of the student riots where hundreds of students were killed, we heard none of this while we were on the square. Instead, we heard that it is the largest city square in the world and can accommodate one million people. We observed many Chinese nationals queuing to enter Chairman Moa's mausoleum. The Square was a hive of activity with hundreds upon hundreds of tour groups visiting at the same time.

From Tiananmen Square we proceeded through to the Forbidden City, home to the emperors of China since the time that Beijing was established as the capital city. The Forbidden City would be familiar to those who remember the movie, "The Last Emperor". Again, we battled amazing crowds to weave our way through this fascinating city area that contained 999 rooms across many buildings. Nine is a perfect number that is reserved for the Emperor and many features of the Forbidden City reflect the number nine. We were on our feet for three hours from the time that we entered Tiananmen Square to the time that we left on the bus for lunch.

We left the Forbidden City with some tired feet and we'd worked up an appetite so it was a good time for lunch. We were fortunate enough to be eating in a small local restaurant which was run from the owner's home, better still was the family name, Mr and Mrs Fun. As we ate some delicious food we also enjoyed the very cosy seating and met their pet Grasshopper.

After lunch we were treated to a lesson in Kite making and Calligraphy. The Kite lesson was given a really friendly man who didn't speak a word of English so some translation was necessary. He helped us make and decorate our own small triangular kites that could actually fly. Among the named creations we had 'Con-air' (Connor Wares) and "Gerald" (Travis Heather). The Calligraphy lesson was given by the 'Master' who also doubled as the chef of the restaurant. He showed us the main brush strokes along with how to write Beijing and Sydney.

 

As we left we were stormed by a group of street sellers trying to sell us their chop sticks and $40 Rolex watches. We quickly made our way to the Rickshaws which were taking us to our next destination. We wound our way through back streets past small homes and corner stores that gave us an insight into how some people live in Beijing, and it was an eye opener for what we consider to be a well developed city.

 

After a rest at the hotel we were off to dinner and a Kung Fu show. The show was quite impressive, showcasing the strength and agility of some very talented martial artists. The show finished with an opportunity for photos with the cast which a few of us took up.

We can't believe it's getting close to the end but we're getting the most of out of each day.