China Ancient Trip, Day 9: Beijing

First met with Rose

While we were in Beijing, our daily sightseeing trips were taken care by 'Maggie Zhang Tour'. I was told by Maggie as it was autumn and the best season to see Beijing. We only stay for 4 days and 3 nights, yet so many interesting places to be visited and not to forget the shopping spots. Fortunately, we able to cover most of the significant tourist spots as suggested by our tour guide.

We were given 8 hours max per day. We may schedule the visit to the Beijing attractions at our own pace. Tasted the halal/vegetarians local cuisine rather than stopping at typical tourist spot, and flexible according to our need.

Maggie described me as a good husband as I'll make sure, there were shopping activities each day :)

After breakfast, we met Rose at the lobby and she briefly explained what we will be doing for the next 3-days. We were dropped off the Tianamen Square as our first stop. The square was surrounded by government building, including the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, the Great Hall of the People and the monument to the People's Heroes, to commemorate the Chinese democracy's struggle. There was also the National Museum of China, but we don't gain entrance.

Mao's portrait at the Gate of Heavenly Peace a.k.a Tianamen Gate

The second gate before reaching the Forbidden City.

The Tiananmen Square, located south of the Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties Imperial, now known as the Palace Museum, built from 1406 to 1420. The complex is really huge, consisting dozens of halls.

The U-shape Meridian Gate, entrance to the Palace Museum

Stroked the bulge for luck! As instructed by Rose

There were 5 bridges crossing the Jade river

The Gate of Supreme Harmony. Tourist flocked to the entrance.

A male lion with a ball under its paw

There were dozens of halls with 'catchy' name

A brief description one of the UNESCO world heritage

Once you passed through the Gate of Supreme Harmony, you'll see the Hall of Supreme Harmony

The restored walkway on the left and the original on the right

The Hall of Supreme Harmony located at the outer court of the Forbidden City.

Imperial roof decoration of the highest status on the roof ridge of the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Source: Wikipedia)

The symbolic sculpture of a dragon

The hall of Central Harmony

It was actually the room of the Emperors changed clothes.

The entrance to the inner court of the Forbidden City

The symbolic of the nine dragons

The Imperial Garden

The massive complex ends at the Gate of Divine Prowess

The Hill of Accumulated Elegance is about 10 meters high

A map of the Forbidden City

It still early for lunch. We skipped Hutong that supposed to be on our itinerary, instead we went shopping at Yashow market. Goods like clothes, leather bags, handicrafts can be found here with decent prices. Mind you that this renowned place offers "not-so-original" within a 4-storey building. Pretty amazed with my wife skills, I chose to abstain from the bargaining scene. She managed to chop down a whopping ~80% reduction from the original price!.

On that afternoon, we went to Yonghe Temple, popularly known as Lama Temple, very important attraction just after the Forbidden City. It's about 6km from the Yashow market.