We decided to go see what all the fuss about the Forbidden City was, the city set on Tiananmen Square had apparently been closed doors for hundreds of years and had not so long ago been opened to the public.
Wow. Why anyone would not want to show off such an amazing – and sprawling huge place I will never know. It is China as you imagine it, all Pagodas, hidden temples there really are no words I could write that would give the place the justice it deserves. But it is huge. Every time you walk through one door at the end of a courtyard you enter another huge courtyard. It took us about half a day to get through, but we minced. Again the kids loved it. But both for different reasons, Charlie loved the history whereas Abi was more concerned with the beauty of the place and dragons! She loves Dragons and who can blame her, they really are amazing.
The heat really got to us all and it didn’t help when I was convinced I knew the way back to Tiananmen Sq, but although we were lost for about 3 hours we did get to see a side of Beijing we wouldn’t have otherwise.
Since arriving in Beijing I have had 4 photos taken, Charlie 34 and Abi 204 – Which would have been more had I not called off many a shoot – Particularly one where I noticed a guy trying to charge people to have their picture taken with Abi. Needless to say I had a moan at him and we abandoned the set.
Despite the beauty of Beijing and every site within what truly is an amazing city, there are some sobering realities of the poor. Babies don’t wear nappies, children beg for food and people are lifeless as they beg for money. That said no city has ever had such an impression on me, and Beijing will be a tough place to beat.
Next stop, the bullet train to Shanghai…
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