Beijing Day Four - A lot in One Day

This was our busiest and longest day so far in any city with the exception of maybe Singapore.  We left the hostel at 10am and didn't return until 9:30 that night. 
First Stop: Forbidden City
     The Forbidden City or Palace Museum is probably one of the most known historic sites in Beijing and it did not disappoint.  It was busy and crowded but not nearly as bad as the Lama Temple the day before. 

Mao welcomes us as we walk through the first gate into the Forbidden City. 

Frozen river cutting through the main courtyard.

One of the most famous halls, definitely the one I thought of first when thinking about the Forbidden City.

One of the main throne room halls, each hall had a seperate purpose, one was for changing where the Emperor would get dressed in preparation for a ceremony, another was where the Emperor rested on his way to the ceremony (it's a long walk from his residence to the front door!).

Inside the Imperial Garden, can only imagine how beautiful it looks in summer.

A man made hill in the garden with a building on top, the emperors, emperesses and royal concubines would travel to the top of this hill for various ceremonies. 

One of the restored roofs, they are working on restoring the buildings and are spending every Monday afternon between January and March of this year to do this (except for today since they had to be open all day for all the tourists who wanted to visit).

We had seen these bronze vats throughout the City and were speculating on what they were intended for.  Eliza had thought that oil was lit in there to bring light to the city.  She was partially right, they actually held water to put out fires, and after we found out that so many of the original halls were built down in accidents this didn't surprise us. 

The main gate on our way out. 

Nest Stop - Tiananmen Square (Lunch and Mao)
After the Forbidden City we met up with Ian in Tiananmen Square for lunch and to visit Mao's mausoleum and the Beijing Police Museum.  The lunch was delicious but unfortunately both Mao and the Museum were closed so we had to move onto our next stop. 

The Monument to the People's Heroes located in the centre of the Square.

Mao's Mausoleum

Next Stop - Temple of Heaven

A hall within the Echo Wall at the Temple of Heaven.

Eliza and Ian infront of the famed Temple of Heaven itself and a random Chinese woman who looks upset at me for taking the picture. 

The 70-year old door,  when the Emperor Qianlong of the Ming Dynasty was 70 years old his advisors built him a side entrance to the Ceremony Hall so that he did not have to walk the entire way.  He decreed after it was built that only Emperors who had reached 70 years of age or older could use that door.  None others did, so he turned out to be the only one to ever use that door.

After the Temple of Heaven we took a break in a McDonald's to get warm and to wait for sundown to go to our next stop.  While we were sitting this little boy and his family started talking to us - his English was almost perfect and he only struggled in translating the names of movies and books from what he knew of in Chinese - an example he called Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, cup of fire so basically the same thing.  

Last Stop of the Evening Before Dinner - Olympic Park at Night
After McDonald's we made our way to the Olympic Park again, this time to see the buildings lit up at night.  Before heading to dinner with Ian's roommates (the first time in China I have been outnumbered in terms of gender - 4 guys, 2 girls). 

And that's all we did on Day Four in Beijing - Day Five is looking to be the complete opposite its almost 1pm here and we had wanted to go to the Summer Palace but I don't know if that is still going to happen we shall see.  Still have two full days here before flying back to Nanjing on Friday and not much more that we absolutely have to see so we got time.  Next time I go to the Olympic Park I am going inside the buildings!