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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 1:22 PM
66 °F
Altitude: 171 ft
China Forbidden City 39.91787, 116.3903739°55’4” N 116°23’25” E
Patterns
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ 66 °F
The city ceased to be the seat of political power in 1912 after Puyi, the last Emperor of China, abdicated and allowed the formation of new Republic of China.
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 1:30 PM
66 °F
Altitude: 200 ft
China Forbidden City 39.91859, 116.3904739°55’7” N 116°23’26” E
Red is Lucky
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ 66 °F
Emperor Yongle, third of the Ming Dynasty, began construction of the Forbidden City in 1406 and it was completed in 1420. 14 Ming emperors held power there until the Manchus took possession in 1644, and moved the capital to Shenyang for a few months.
The Qing Dynasty soon moved the capital back to Beijing and the Forbidden City. 10 Qing emperors ruled from there until the abdication of the last emperor in 1912.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 1:36 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 200 ft
China Forbidden City 39.91856, 116.3905639°55’7” N 116°23’26” E
Happy Traveler
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
Kathy looks so happy to be here in the Forbidden City. We've been in China for only a short time and we've already had such amazing experiences and seen such wonderful things. This is shaping up to be, so far, our best vacation yet!Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 1:42 PM
⛅ 28 °F
Altitude: 194 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.91909, 116.3904839°55’9” N 116°23’26” E
Waiting
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 28 °F
That's part of our tour group just standing around with Kathy on the right. As for me, I'm too busy exploring the Forbidden City and taking pictures to just stand there and wait for the tour guide. This is, probably, a once in a lifetime visit! Explore it all and don't miss a thing!Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 1:46 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 194 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.91927, 116.3904239°55’9” N 116°23’26” E
Rooftops
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
The roofs of the Imperial Palace buildings deserve special attention. Originally, the roofs were made mostly of wood, and to prevent the tiles from sliding, wooden nails were used. However, without lightning rods, the palace roof would easily catch fire. Therefore, some alchemists suggested that symbols of the fish-tail star could be installed on the roof to prevent fire. Later, these symbols were replaced by glazed tiles which were shaped like lucky animals, some of these, like dragons, were imaginary.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 1:49 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 180 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.91935, 116.3903439°55’10” N 116°23’25” E
Yellow Tiles
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
The roofs on most of the buildings in the Forbidden City are made with yellow tiles. Yellow was the exclusive color of the emperor and symbolized his ultimate power.
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 1:50 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 180 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.91937, 116.3903539°55’10” N 116°23’25” E
The Power of Color
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
Colors are very important in the symbolic system of the Chinese emperors. The two most important colors are yellow and red. Yellow is the imperial color, so the emperors' clothes were mostly yellow. In Chinese culture yellow is associated with respect. This color is found mainly on the roofs of the pavilions, the tiles are almost always yellow and glazed. Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 1:56 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 187 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.9195, 116.3904439°55’10” N 116°23’26” E
No Longer Forbidden
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
The Forbidden City is not forbidden anymore. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City was forbidden for commoners and only opened for imperial families and government officials who were invited. Now, it’s open for all as a tourist attraction.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:00 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 184 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.91965, 116.3904939°55’11” N 116°23’26” E
No Birds Allowed
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
When visiting the Forbidden City, you may notice that no birds are sitting on the roofs. This is because the roofs have a special design.
To keep the birds from landing on the roofs, so as to retain the cleanliness and magnificence of the Forbidden City, the smart craftsmen came up with an idea: they made the slope of each roof higher and made the roof spine wider than the width between a bird’s claws so that birds are unable to land on the roofs. Not only that, the roofs are made of glazed tile. These tiles are very slippery, making it impossible for birds to land on them.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:07 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 164 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.91997, 116.3906539°55’12” N 116°23’26” E
Almost Done
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
With all of the big palace style buildings behind us, I'm thinking that our tour of the Forbidden City is starting to wind down. I wish that I could have stayed longer because I feel like there's still so much here that we didn't get a chance to see. I could easily spend the whole day here but I understand that the rest of our tour group might not appreciate history as much as I do. That's most of our group standing on the right side of the photo. Kathy is the one standing closest to me.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:10 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 164 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.92004, 116.3906339°55’12” N 116°23’26” E
In the Park
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
This little park at the end of the Forbidden City was a nice way to finish our tour. Lots of people must agree with me because there was a lot of people standing around relaxing and talking. Since our tour group was here, it gave me a chance to finish taking my pictures and catch up with everyone.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:14 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 164 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.92006, 116.3905539°55’12” N 116°23’26” E
Guardian of the Rear Entrance
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
Even though we're nearly out of the Forbidden City, I'm still spotting so many fascinating things to see. I don't understand why the rest of our tour group seems oblivious to them. Why would they come to China if they don't have an interest in everything around them? I suppose I'm being to harsh though. I can't expect everyone to be as fascinated as I am.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:20 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 161 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.92024, 116.3904939°55’13” N 116°23’26” E
China in Color
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
This area at the end of the Forbidden City seems so much more colorful and cheerful. So far, the only colors that we've really seen a lot of is red and yellow. This spot makes for a nice, and welcome, change.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:27 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 151 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.92034, 116.390439°55’13” N 116°23’25” E
More of the Same
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
This looks very similar to what we've been seeing all along inside the Forbidden City but it doesn't look to be quite as old. I'm not sure if this area has undergone a recent restoration or if the palace was built in stages over many years.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:30 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 167 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.92042, 116.3905339°55’14” N 116°23’26” E
The Wall
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
I'm not sure why these jagged stone walls are so popular with Chinese people. I see them in restaurants, tourist attractions and even tiny ones in house plants. I asked Kathy if she had any idea why are so significant but she didn't have any idea.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:34 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 167 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.92043, 116.3906939°55’14” N 116°23’26” E
Chinese Architecture
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
This area at the end of the Forbidden City tour is so beautiful! The rest of the Forbidden City looks very drab and plain when compared to this area. I must admit, this is what I was how I had expected most of the Forbidden City to look.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:39 PM
☁️ 70 °F
Altitude: 180 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.92118, 116.3906139°55’16” N 116°23’26” E
The Way Out
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F
As we leave the Forbidden City, I can't help but notice these giant gates. Lisa, our tour guide, explained that the door studs on the gates of the Forbidden City were made of brass and plated with gold. Lustrous, they add to the splendor and magnificence of the imperial palace. All the gates used by the emperor have 9 X 9 or 81 studs, as the number nine represented the supremacy of the monarch. Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:46 PM
☁️ 70 °F
Altitude: 151 ft
China Shenwu Men 39.92133, 116.3905839°55’17” N 116°23’26” E
One Last Look
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F
As we leave the Forbidden City, I take one last look back, remembering all of the wonderful and amazing things that we saw there. I'm hoping that we can come back here someday. I'd like to see the Forbidden City without a tour group so that we can devote an entire day to being here. Although we saw a lot, I'm thinking that we also missed so much. This is a spot that really needs a lot more time to appreciate it properly.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 3:00 PM
66 °F
Altitude: 220 ft
China Wangfujing 39.89811, 116.405339°53’53” N 116°24’19” E
Time for Lunch
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ 66 °F
After leaving the Forbidden City we made a quick stop for lunch. Everyone was hungry, including me, but I wasn't thrilled with the restaurant that the tour guide brought us to. It was a vegetarian restaurant so there wasn't anything being served that I could eat. The drink that was served with the meal was tea and, when I asked for water, I was told that water wasn't included in the meal and I had to pay extra for it. This meal was so disappointing. I hope that our other meals on the tour wouldn't be like this. I was surprised that everyone was given forks rather than chopsticks. Do they think that Americans are too stupid to know how to use chopsticks? How insulting!Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 3:35 PM
☁️ 72 °F
Altitude: 148 ft
China Longtan 39.88665, 116.4064939°53’12” N 116°24’23” E
Next Stop, the Temple of Heaven
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
After walking around all morning, and that long trek back to our tour bus, it felt great to sit and relax for a while while we drove to the next spot on our tour schedule. The traffic wasn't bad, and we soon reached the Temple of Heaven. This is just the entry gate and I'm already impressed!Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 3:43 PM
☁️ 72 °F
Altitude: 154 ft
China Longtan 39.88667, 116.4066739°53’12” N 116°24’24” E
Kathy
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
As we were going into the Temple of Heaven, we saw this garden like area out front and everyone in the tour group wanted to stop for a moment and take pictures. I must admit, it is a good spot for taking a selfie.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 3:45 PM
☁️ 72 °F
Altitude: 154 ft
China Longtan 39.88667, 116.4066739°53’12” N 116°24’24” E
Here We Are
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
There was a lot of cameras and cell phones changing hands in our group as everyone was asking each other to take pictures of them. This is the shot that was taken of us. I must say, it came out very well. After what we went through at the entrance to the Forbidden City, I avoided taking pictures of Nina and her husband. She's very fussy and never seems pleased with the pictures she asks people to take of her.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 3:52 PM
☁️ 72 °F
Altitude: 128 ft
China Longtan 39.88564, 116.4064539°53’8” N 116°24’23” E
Almost There
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
We had to walk on this long pathway to get to the Temple of Heaven but I didn't mind it. It was nice, in fact. It was almost as if we were being given the time to leave the hustle and bustle of Beijing behind as we proceed into the tranquility and peacefulness of the Temple of Heaven.Read more
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 3:56 PM
☁️ 72 °F
Altitude: 135 ft
China Qinian Dian 39.88331, 116.4066639°52’60” N 116°24’24” E
The Temple of Heaven
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
We're still outside of the gates, but nearly there. This is my first view of the Temple of Heaven. Although we haven't gone in yet, I'm already in awe of this beautiful monument.
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Day 5
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 4:02 PM
☁️ 72 °F
Altitude: 131 ft
China Qinian Dian 39.88307, 116.4066339°52’59” N 116°24’24” E
Red Gates
September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
Just like in the Forbidden City, we passed through a big red gate to enter the grounds for the Temple of Heaven. These gates always seem to be open; at least, I've never seen any that were closed. They look to be very heavy and strong. I'm wondering if they are left open because of how big and heavy they are or if they are closed at night and the public just doesn't see it. I'd be very interested to see them opening and closing.Read more
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