Beijing and the Forbidden City
After my initial jet-lagged arrival in the Chinese capital, as well as the introduction to my G Adventures family, followed an incredible day of cultural and historical exploration in the breath taking Forbidden City. As this was my first full day in an Asian country, the masterful architecture and beautiful designs of the cities most treasured historical site was like another world to me. If you are ever intending to visit Beijing, the Forbidden City is a MUST DO.
However, our day actually began outside the city walls. The group was up to rise bright and early for our complimentary buffet breakfast, consisting mainly of rice dishes and dumplings. If you think I put on weight while travelling through China, you are correct. Within those two weeks, I was eating meals for breakfast that really weren’t meant for the first meal of the day. But who cares, I’m on holiday!
As the G Adventures tour was on a “shoestring budget”, our transportation throughout the trip was public, and not private. Because of this, our morning began by having to sprint to keep up with Richard (our tour guide) as he attempted to stop the bus we were already supposed to be on. It was confusing to say the least, watching your tour guide sprinting down the street away from you. Luckily, we made it just before the bus pulled away without us, and we crammed ourselves into an already over populated bus to Tienanmen Square.
The famous square in the centre of Beijing is surrounded by both historical and political buildings that are integral to the operation of the country. It was extremely difficult to hear Richard giving us his cultural talk on the surrounding buildings and the square itself, as the crowds pouring into the square were unrelenting. Imagine ants swarming the core of a half-eaten apple lying on the grass. Every which way you moved, you were bumping into someone. It was at this moment that I first experienced how truly busy the most populated country in the world really is. As we were also getting closer to the famous Moon Festival in China, preparations were being made in Tienanmen Square for the celebrations.
It was a relief and breath of fresh air to break away from the bustling crowds for some free time to explore the square and take a few pictures, the first time my camera came into action on my journey.
Caroline, the Scottish girl from my group and I took a wander around the square together, conversing about our journeys from the U.K and getting to know each other. We spent time gazing up at the enormous structures surrounding the square. The monument (above) is the “Monument to the People’s Heroes”. It was erected as a national monument of the People’s Republic of China, to the martyrs of the revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries. On the west side of the square is the “Great Hall of the People” and is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the People’s Republic of China (below).
On the eastern side, sat the National Museum of China. Intended to educate people about the arts and history of China, it is one of the largest museums in the world and had over 8 million visitors in 2017 alone!
The square also contains the mausoleum of Mao Zedong (below), who proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Tienanmen Square itself is named so as the “Gate of Heavenly Peace” an is one of the largest public squares in the world!
The north side of the square contained the path to our next stop and experience of the day; the Tienanmen Gate of the Forbidden City. We re-grouped after our free time exploring the square and crossed the ever-busy roads running around the impressive red walls. We then entered through the vast, amazing gates into the Forbidden City itself.
The Forbidden City really was amazing to behold, and every angle of the buildings and courtyards painted an excellent opportunity for a photograph. Whether it was wide shots of the huge gates linking the open spaces, or just photos of the coming and going tourists and officials, I captured a great little collection of photos whilst inside.
Once inside the second courtyard, Richard sat us all down in the cool shade of the towering city walls to tell us about the history of the city. The Forbidden City is the former Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming dynasty, to the end of the Qing dynasty (1420 to 1912). It served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of the Chinese government for almost 500 years! It currently houses the Palace Museum and consists of 980 buildings and covers over 180 acres! That’s pretty big, so you can imagine how impressive it was to have around you.
After our short cultural talk, we were allowed some free time to explore the courtyards and take photos. This proved pretty difficult, with hundreds of people pouring in per minute. It was actually becoming rather tedious, as you couldn’t turn around without bumping into at least 3 tourists at once. However, the people flooding the city did create opportunities for some awesome photojournalistic, street photos:
As we went deeper into the city, the walk ways got smaller, and instead of large impressive buildings, we were now looking at ancient artefacts and living quarters. These courtyards were now much smaller, but with less people which was a relief.
Beyond this, we came to some beautiful gardens inside the city walls, where we split off to explore the various trees and plants, growing harmoniously with the surrounding structures built to support to them.
This gorgeous garden courtyard was also the southern entrance and exit of the city. So, after a short period of exploration, we were outside the walls, sat in the shade watching all the tourists cascading through the gates. While a few of us waited for our remaining group members to exit the gates, I took the opportunity to capture raw Chinese culture in the passers-by.
Once we had all re-grouped, Richard took us across town via another cramped bus ride for a delicious dumpling lunch. The restaurant was only small and local, but it seems like everywhere in China served great food!
It is at this point, that I will also note how extremely different the Chinese culture is to that of any other I have come across. For example, Chinese people have a weird obsession with white people in their country. Numerous times during my trip, I noticed people taking pictures of us on their phones. While we were eating lunch in this tiny dumpling restaurant, two Chinese women came and sat next to us and uninvitingly began taking selfies with us! Don’t get me wrong it was kind of entertaining, but also extremely strange to witness. I even caught random Chinese men doing it to us in the street, pretending to take pictures of the surrounding views to only slowly turn their phones towards us and start clicking! If you’re a white, blonde girl and you visit China, you will receive more attention than you ever thought possible. They love people with fair coloured hair and even buy skin whitening products for paler skin. I suppose we can take it as flattery? It’s an odd feeling knowing a nation of people would prefer to look like a completely different race!
Anyway, after our paparazzi experience and dumpling lunch, we rented some road bikes from the nearby markets for a short circuit of the drum towers and lake in the centre of Beijing. It was a lot of fun cycling through the busy streets, but it really wasn’t easy. There doesn’t seem to be as many driving laws in China and feels more like a free-for-all of cars, bikes and tuk-tuks. Even the small pathways circling the lake were difficult to cycle through, especially when you’re riding on a very uncomfortable bicycle seat that doesn’t sit straight.
Once we reached the lake, we stopped to take a few photos and soak in the views. The smog of the city was quickly descending above us, so despite the humid weather, there was very little sunshine. Even so, it was undeniably beautiful.
The evening was fast approaching, so we all hopped back on our bicycles and cycled back to our Hotel. For me, the warmth of the evening and the setting sun called for a few hours of photography around the Forbidden City. I left the hotel and went for a stroll, looking for good photo opportunities. It was then that a Chinese man attempted to scam me.
WARNING – If you ever visit China, a lot of people will be trying to scam you. A man on a tuk-tuk offered me a ride to the Forbidden City for 6 Yuan (the equivalent of about 70p). Naturally I said yes, and thoroughly enjoyed my 20 second ride to gates of the city (I didn’t realise how close I was!) and once I had jumped off, he then tried to charge me 300 Yuan (which is around 35 pounds). I was quite proud of myself that I stood my ground and said no. He was getting pretty mad and cursing at me in Chinese, “You pay! You pay!”. To which my reply was “10 Yuan or nothing!”. My stubbornness won me the argument, and after that experience I didn’t go near another tuk-tuk for the entire trip.
I eventually made it to the gates of the Forbidden City, where I setup my tripod and took some pictures of the beautiful city turret and surrounding moat. The long exposures allowed me to capture a still reflection on the waters.
Once I was satisfied, I began the steady climb up the steps of Jingshan Park. If you visit Beijing in the future, I highly recommend visiting this park. It’s only around 8 Yuan entry and it is really beautiful. The Jingshan hill also provides stunning views of The Forbidden City and surrounding areas. When I first entered the park, I came across a group of Chinese women dancing to their traditional music, spinning and twirling with large multicoloured ribbons. It was lovely to watch. The fluid movement of the ribbons was almost enchanting, and had me feeling completely at peace.
After pacing many steps to the summit of the steep Jingshan Hill, I was rewarded with amazing aerial views of the city. The smog had really set in since I had begun my walk, so unfortunately my photos taken at the top of the hill weren’t as great as I hoped they would be. None the less, it was definitely worth the climb, and as the sun began to set and the lights flickered to life across the landscape, it was a really peaceful place to sit and reflect on the events of the day.
I had seen so much of Beijing in such a short space of time. Not only that, I had also learnt so much about the Chinese culture and how different they are from the rest of the world. I knew from that moment on that I would fully enjoy the rest of my time in this fascinating country, and I was extremely excited to see what else it had in store for me.
Great blog Jake, really well written, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your adventures. You should consider writing a book, a guide for future visitors.
Thanks Graham! I will look into writing the book haha
Great blog, informative and interesting. You should consider getting these published. Would be great for others planning on doing similar trips