The main entrance to the Forbidden City from Tiannamen Square
The entrance itself already took my breath away but the only drawback was the “millions” of tourists getting in and out of that place! Seriously my photos do not do justice to the majestic architecture and beauty of this wondrous and amazing palace! However, I was like kinda put off with that giant poster of Mr Chairman M la. I know with all due respect this guy, he was somebody but the poster should be placed where he was laid to rest which was next door to FC la..
Entrance Tickets cost RMB 60 and that does not include entrance into various parts of the FC but by just walking around the palace our legs were about to give way, ok maybe only my legs…but we did pay to enter one part where they kept the antiques and treasures..We also paid to get the virtual guide which I thought was pretty cool as the narrator will automatically explain about the location wherever you go to!! However, they charged RMB 40 for English and other languages whereas they charged only RMB 10 for Mandarin!!! NO FAIR!!!
I can imagine those enuchs & maids walking along this place….so lonely & eerie feeling….The walls are so high up and I doubt if any one was able to enter or escape to or from this place! From the history, all maids/eunuchs/concubines who enter the palace will never get to leave the palace….how sad…
One of the rooms used by the Empress/Concubine..forgot ledi…see the wood carvings…so beautiful hor…
There were quite a number of rooms that were opened for viewing only through glass windows. We could peep in and saw so many beautiful treasures and furniture and understand roughly how the imperial family used to live (also from the many Hong Kong TVB drarma series I have watched so far) . We knew for a fact that majority of the treasures in the palace were looted off but there were still a lot left back in the palace! Can you imagine how much they had!
One of the many many halls that the King uses to meet up with officials etc..
There’s just too much to see despite many areas being closed to public. We simply couldn’t finish walking around the palace grounds. I want to visit this place again but I must read up more on the history in order to fully appreciate the visit.
The toilets were commendable too, with toilet paper and hand dryer that works and there was a lady there constantly mopping and cleaning up. So I was very pleased and there were sitting toilets too!! For a start of my tour, this was really good!
Categories: Myself · Travel · Vacation
The drama began even before the flight. I bought a new sweater and had it washed last minute. At the same time I had to wash a load for a visiting pastor in my church. So I gave instructions to the maid what to do. However, Apah was the transporter. The maid hung the sweater in a hanger and the pastor’s clothes in a plastic bag. But Apah has to put in my sweater inside the plastic bag thinking the maid must have made a mistake by separating the sweater! Why can’t he call me to verify?? At the end I didn’t bring this sweater along and thank God the pastor was not leaving the same day and we actually managed to talk to him and asked him to leave the sweater with the church staff! I was so mad with Apah I actually asked him to get another room in Beijing!
It was a midnight flight out and coincidentally, Mom to 3 Angels was on the same flight with me to & fro! It was a 6.5 hours flight and when we landed we were immediately greeted with a pleasant looking guy offering his taxi service. Opening price was RMB450 and we started bargaining he went down a mere RMB50!! When we asked him to drop Mom to 3 Angels & her colleague first and then to our hotel he only agreed if the fare was back to RMB450! We didn’t realise he actually slaughtered us till we left our hotel for the Beijing Airport. The fare from our hotel to the airport was only RMB90! I was so happy I actually gave the cabbie RMB100 asked him to keep the change! So remember, if you do take a cab from Beijing airport to a hotel in the city it should not cost more than RMB150!!!!!!!!!!
Upon arrival we were in for another surprise, as the hotel said the fare we booked doesn’t include tax and we had to pay 15% more! Apah better give the agent a good shelling! However, we managed to bargain for an additional breakfast as the original offer was only for 1 free breakfast and the next good thing was they had the room ready for us by 9+am. This was the Novotel Chungwenmen and is very strategically located right in front of the Chongwenmen Subway station.
We quickly freshened up and departed for Qianmen (the next subway station on the same line as Chongwenmen), our first tourist stop. Wanted to look for a tailor but couldn’t find any and ended up shopping for nonsense.
In front of the first gate towards the entrance of the Forbidden City, hence it's called Qianmen (Front door)
Qianmen shopping street (very expensive shopping, so I didn’t buy anything there)
Look at the massive number of tourists! Mostly local China Chinese people!
We ate at a descent looking restaurant (located next to the Qianmen Shopping St) and that was our first try on the Peking Duck. They actually roast the duck in full view for the diners. Taste wise…not fantastic but bearable.
Next stop was Forbidden City which deserves a post of it on its own!
Categories: Myself · Travel · Vacation
