BEIJING: The Forbidden City!

The Forbidden City of China! 

From 1420 to 1911 this place was forbidden to commoners. Only the Emperor's family and all their servants lived inside. 

It was huge. Massive. 900 something buildings, a huge moat, huge walls, huge gates.

and of course it was crowded

and hazy

Dave kept saying he was glad that we wore bright colors so he could spot us easily. 

Let's go in! Don't get lost. Stay right by me and hold my hand. 

Rub the gold balls for good luck. "Are they real gold?!" asks Gage. 

Every roof of every pagoda had 9 animals. With the Emperor riding a chicken in front. "A chicken?hahahaha" says Noah. 

Dragons symbolize the Emperor, a phoenix for the Empress.

It was so nice to follow the guide and have her explain everything. And to have Noah. He doesn't miss a good sign. 

One sign talked about a huge elaborate stone dragon carving. The largest ever. It was carved from one rock in the mountainside and then they sprinkled water on the road and transported it to the Forbidden City on a road of ice. 

We also learned more about the Ming and Qing dynasties. 24 emperors lived in the Forbidden City along with thousands and thousands of servants. We heard stories of invasions, attempted assassinations, rebellions. We saw treasures and artwork and inner courts and outer courts. 

This was on a normal Tuesday morning. Not a holiday or a Saturday or anything. So if you want to see the Emperor's throne you better get in there and push and shove. Watch out for the old grannies they will seriously trample you. No personal bubbles or 'excuse me' in the East. 

We found a nice quiet corner to have a snack. 

"Take a picture of my fist!" 

"Ok" 

We weren't alone for long. Sybil's paparazzi always show up. They crowd around (remember, no personal bubbles) smile, clap hands, pinch cheeks and take pictures.

Can you blame them? 

We made our way through the rest of the Forbidden City. We saw so much but there was still so much more to see. 

Gage made some friends. 

Sybil attracted a lot more paparazzi. 

And somehow, just somehow...

We made it out the other side! Really an amazing place. 

BEIJING: Imperial Garden and Bei Hai

 

 The Imperial Gardens had an incredible view of the Forbidden City. That place is massive! You can't even see all of it from here. 

 

I'm wearing Sibby. Can you see her? This counts as proof she was in Beijing, right?

 

We kept the boys going with constant snacking. They loved those chinese rice crackers.

 

The pagodas and gardens at this place were incredible. 

The boys were more interested in the hills in between. They made some friends, threw some sticks. We couldn't get them down.

We walked from here to Bei Hai park. Also an imperial place. No commoners allowed. But this was was built by the Mongol, Kublai Khan when he was in charge of China.

 

There's an awesome white Dagoba on top of the hill. Its Tibetan style to honor a Dalai Lama who visited here. The day we went was a holiday, Tombsweeping Day,  so it was SUPER crowded. We didn't stay long.

 

But we enjoyed watching the water calligraphers, the street performers, the boats out on the lake. And who could forget the band performing old Chinese songs in their army uniforms waving pink scarves and dancing berets. I know Dave won't.

BEIJING: The Great Wall!

We drove 90 minutes outside of Beijing to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. 

This way. 

At the base were a bunch of souvenir shops and a couple restaurants (including a Subway!). 

"Hey Mom, take a picture of my fist!" 

"Ok" 

We took a rickety ski lift up to the top. With Sibby strapped on my front and Gage holding my hand the first thing I said when we sat down was, "We must be nuts!" I thought I said it under my breath but Gage heard it and giggled and giggled the whole way to the top. "Look Mom, they must be nuts too!" "Mom, we are nuts!" He wasn't one bit nervous. 

But Noah felt the same way I did. He and Dave had a sweet experience on the chair behind us.  

The view at the top was incredible! You could see the Great Wall of China snaking along the mountains in each direction. 

The first Emperor of China started building the Great Wall in 220 BC. Then the Ming Dynasty rebuilt a lot of it in the 14th century. 

The kids never got tired going up or going down. Dave and I would make them take breaks just so we could catch our breath or take pictures. 

The watch towers were so fun to play in. Some of them had stairs on to the roof. Some of them had back doors and secret crannies. "Let's find a place where Mom can't listen to us, Noah" says Gage.

Chinese graffiti

Sweet baby

We hiked until we got to the "wild" section of the wall where tourists aren't allowed. You can still see it snaking off in the distance. 

This was just one small section of the wall. The entire thing is about 21,000 km. There are sections where you can hike for days and camp in the watch towers. There are sections with zip lines down into the village. There is a section that plunges into the sea. 

So cool. 

We hiked back to the beginning and took the toboggan ride down. It was so fun! Noah drove one on his own and did a great job being a "risk taker" like they talk about at school. He was nervous but after he had his hand on that control for about 2 seconds he loved it! Gage wanted to go faster and faster and by the time we got to the bottom they were begging to go back up and do it all again.