Beijing Day 2























 The Forbidden City (故宫博物院) was home to the Imperial Court during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Forbidden City was relatively untouched during the cultural revolution.  The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty.  It is an UNISCO site of emperor home and now houses a few treasure museums.  The Forbidden City complex consists of 980 buildings and covers over 180 acres.


I was so intimated by the size of crowds in the area (simply beyond my imagination and much more than July 4th), with many layers of check points, such that i dropped the plan to tour Teanman Square. 


I was exhausted after walking 4-hours in the Forbidden City, yet sill hiked up the mountain behind the Forbidden City to have panorama views of the Forbidden City and other neighborhoods. 


In the afternoon, I went to Olympic Park (奥林匹克公园) that covers a planned area for hosting the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, to take some photos. I also visited the Intangible Cultural Heritage museum (中国非物质文化遗产博物馆), to enjoy it colorful and interesting collections. 


The last highlight of the day was to reunite with my college in Beijing Train station to enjoy some conversation and food.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Travelled Russia - China - Taiwan in 2.5 months

Image
 I have traveled 95 countries, after my trip during summer 2024 to Russia, China, and Taiwan : 2 weeks in Russia (Moscow & St. Petersburg), 1.5 months in China ( 北京, 四川, 湖南 , 庐山, 黄山, etc. ) and two weeks in Taiwan.  My trip highlights include (1) hiking the dangerous Tiandu Peak 天都峰 in Huangshan 黃山 , (2) hitchhiking thereby walking between Yangdi Wharf 杨堤碼頭 and Xingping Ancient Town 兴坪古镇 of the scenic Li River 漓江 in Yangshuo 阳朔 ; (3) riding a scooter along the Ten-Li Gallery 十里画廊 located in Yangshuo 阳朔 ; (4) hiking to Wulao Peak 五老峰 and Sandiequan 三叠泉 in Lushan   庐山 ; (5) strolling in Zhangjiajie 张家界 ; (6) touring the gorgeous Jiuzhaigou 九寨沟 , Daocheng Yading 稻城亚丁 , and Siguniang Mountain 四姑娘山 in Sichuan; (7) hiking on Badaling 八达岭 section of Great Wall of China near Beijing in high heat; (8) taking a train to Suzdal a tiny town on Golden Ring circuit near Moscow; and (9) enjoyed a lot of Chinese food takeouts in hostels. See details at https://russiachinaj...
Read more

A zero day back to Moscow

Image
 I finished two towns 苏兹达里 суздаль and 弗拉基米尔 владимир yesterday, and walked a lot, so I took today easy, just to transport myself back to Moscow. Since I was stressed out last time buying an express train ticket at the train terminal, I attempted to book one online. However, the booking info request was frustrating. Fortunately, my young biker hostelmate figured out and finally booked my 2nd choice ticket, while my 1st choice was gone while we were trying.  My hostelmate is an architect college student so he speaks enough English to communicate with me. I ended up getting on a sleeping seat and had a 2-hr nap on the train back to Moscow.  Russian people are generally friendly and helpful, although they were intimidated by my English at the beginning. Once they realize I need help, they will find young people to intervene and tried to help.  Since Russia is still under sanction, no Western credit card work here. I was forced to spend one hour to open a debit card with...
Read more

Day 3 in Huangshan 黃山

Image
Yungu Temple 云谷寺 Trail Climb up the mountain - Shixin Peak - Xihai Grand Canyon - Outside the ring - Mengbi Shenghua - Qingliang Terrace - Monkeys watching the sea - Guangmingding 100-step cloud ladder - Welcoming pine - Yuping cableway (see map) Shixin Peak 始信峰 is 1,683 meters above sea level, surrounded by cliffs on three sides and an empty valley facing the wind. There are many pine trees nearby, so there is a saying that "If you don't go to Shixin Peak, you won't see Huangshan pines". It is a representative landscape of Huangshan. There is also the Shuguang Pavilion here. About 200 meters away from the Shuguang Pavilion is the famous Qingliang Terrace, which is also surrounded by the sky on three sides. On the opposite mountain is the "Eighteen Arhats Facing the South China Sea". One of the ten famous pines in Huangshan, it grows at an altitude of 1,650 meters from the Baieling Cableway Station to the fork in the road at Shixin Peak, and has been listed ...
Read more