China Trip - Day 11 The Forbidden City, Beijing
On our second day in Beijing we wanted to see as many sights as possible so we signed up for a tour of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven. This was a whirlwind tour and for the first time visiting Beijing I highly recommend it. However, we had a very long stop at a pearl store that felt like a big waste of time but overall it was great way to see and learn a lot. Our first stop was the Forbidden City. For the most part all of the buildings looked the same and the whole complex felt barren without any trees or plants. The main thing that set each building apart was the number of animals on the corners of the buildings. The more animals the more significant the building, with 9 being the highest number. My favorite parts of the Forbidden City were all the details in the marble railings, the metalwork on the doors, and in the ceramic tiles around the doors and on the roof line. The last room was the imperial ceramic collection. We had about 5 minutes to walk through and see as much as we could. This is not enough time for a ceramic artist! I’ll share photos from the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven over the next two days.