Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City

It was a lovely warm and sunny day, but the sun was quite hot. We asked our guide for a slightly shorter tour, as there would be little shade at today’s attractions.

Tienanmen Square was quite large and very open with lots of people. We can’t believe the number of people who are at these attractions during the week—weekends must be absolutely crazy busy. We walked through part of the square and then on to The Forbidden City. It is quite large with lots of buildings that we did not venture into—I don’t think you can go into any of the buildings. There were lots of people trying to sell you souvenirs. Once you ask for a price, the vendors are relentless until you settle on a price and purchase the item. This bartering all takes time while you’re cooking in the sun.

We walked through the outer city and then the inner city, observing the beautiful buildings. The cobblestone walkways were a little difficult to traverse with our umbrella stroller that has front wheels with a mind of their own.

We then went on to the Imperial Gardens. They were quite beautiful but very busy with lots of people. It’s difficult to really take in a site of this magnitude while struggling with a stroller, watching that you don’t run into people or they run into you, and watching that Charlotte doesn’t loose a shoe or her hat.

Our guide Thomas told us a lot of history about the buildings and the Dragon Lady. The stories are very fascinating—we’ll need to follow up and fill in the details when we return home. We purchased a couple of books already but we’ve not had a chance to look through them.

Upon leaving the south gate, we had to walk along the side of the gated road to reach our bus. Upon our travels we encountered a lot of very sad situations. There were blind men playing what looked like homemade instruments, begging for money. There were women carrying children, begging for money to feed their children—a couple of these women grabbed onto my arm and backpack. There were vendors selling fruit and other local snack-like foods. We gave to some, but couldn’t give to all.

While waiting under the shade of a tree, a couple of ladies were selling chopsticks and small bags. The bartering began. In a very short period of time, we were swarmed by vendors all wanting us to buy something from them. When the bus arrived, the vendors became more aggressive in their approach. It was very overwhelming.

Once we returned home and had a bite of lunch, I, too, had a short nap while Charlotte napped. My cold really kicked in at this point.

In the early evening, we took a trip to the Yashow Market in a taxi—the roads were incredibly busy; it was like rush hour, but it was 7 pm. The Yashow Market is a 5 floor building with open stalls, very much like the Pickering Flea Market; however, each floor seems to specialize in particular items. In the basement, shoes and luggage and other leather items are sold. Clothing is sold on most of the other floors. On the top floor, electronics, watches, and fabric are sold. The sales people are very pushy and aggressive. They also are very touchy. Perhaps we’ll have better luck at The Silk Market tomorrow.