Because Maylia seemed to be feeling much better and her cough had greatly improved we looked forward to spending the day with Joan and the S family. When we had run into them the day before they confirmed that their day at the Wall had been difficult. It was incredibly cold, the steps incredibly steep and their daughter had cried nearly the entire time. We were relieved we had chosen to stay home.Today’s tour would still be cold but definitely easier than a climb to the Wall.
The last time Todd and I had been to the Forbidden City a number of the pavilions had been under construction. It was the year before the Beijing Olympics and they were renovating and readying every facility for the influx of international visitors that would surely come. So we were looking forward to seeing it again, a little less encumbered.
Both places were surprisingly close to our hotel -- not a ten minute drive away. Our first stop was at Tiananmen Square, located just outside of the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square was named after the Tiananmen Gate located on the north side, and originally built in 1415 as the Gate to the Forbidden City. It was since expanded and is now one of the largest city squares in the world and the site of a number of important events in Chinese History. To most of the world it’s most notoriously known for the uprisings that occurred there in the late 80’s. I still remember the image shown on t.v. of the man in the white shirt standing boldly in front of a line of tanks, during a time when hundreds if not thousands of protesters were killed.
There are still hundreds of thousands of people there but instead of a place of protest it is a place of pride. We were amazed when we visited in 2007 and just as amazed now that the majority of tourists to Tiananmen are Chinese. They come mostly in groups, wearing bright matching caps with their guide carrying a tall flag. We were in a group too, but were distinguished by blankets and babies rather than hats and flags. We were conspicuous enough -- the postcard hawkers all seemed to zero in on us, but we also would get looks of surprise and shock when they saw us carrying little Chinese children. People would look down at the kids and then look at us and then talk to one another in Chinese. What I wouldn’t do for the gift of tongues.
I asked Becky a few days earlier what she thought of what other Chinese people thought about us adopting one of their children -- wanting their unwanted. She said that though some would be concerned and think it wasn’t right, that most people would be pleased, even surprised that we would want another child, particularly one with special needs. Because Maylia didn’t appear to have any physical difficulties not to mention being so ridiculously cute, I was sure that they thought we had stolen her -- especially when she cried in public. Todd once again reassured me with an eye roll, a shake of his head and a reminder of how crazy I was. I reminded him that of course I was crazy, and would have to be to remain married to him for this long.
We took a number of photos around the square and then walked across the street and through another security checkpoint to enter into the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City is really quite and extraordinary place. What may simply look as a series of buildings and courtyards are the grounds of an extensive Imperial Palace dating back to the 1400’s.
Wikipedia describes it simply and best:
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the centre of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.
Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft).[1] The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture,[2] and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987,[2] and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Definitely not something to sneeze at.
The weather was getting colder and the wind picking up -- thankfully we had been able to get not just her hood on but her mittens as well -- albeit through some tears and screams. I think it was cold enough -- and she was numb enough -- that she stopped resisting after a while for which we were grateful . The buildings are extraordinary -- it’s hard to believe how many hundreds of years old they are. Its also hard to believe that for the Imperial Family and those who lived there, this was all of Beijing they ever knew, never venturing beyond the city walls. That said, there was no getting bored with the number of buildings to explore, not to mention, some of the best building names ever. Some of my favourites include The Pavilion of Prolonged Sunshine, The Palace of Gathering Essence, The Palace of Supporting Longevity, Hall of Temper Cultivation,
The Hall for Respect & Thinking, and, my personal favourite, The Pavilion of Literary Profundity. A building by any other name wouldn’t be near as much fun.
As much as we were enjoying the tour, that made only two of us. Maylia was getting more tired, cold and hungry by the moment and there was only so many goldfish that could keep her happy. After about an hour and a half and a bit of a nap we reached the other side of the city where our driver met us and taxied us back to the hotel.
Lunch was good and a a late afternoon nap was better. When she woke up we met Joan downstairs to pick up the last of the paperwork that had been issued from the Canadian Embassy. Maylai was official, and we were officially good to go...but not for one more day. It will be a light day tomorrow. A little shopping and then supper together with our group -- Peking Duck I think.
I was looking forward to to our last day, looking forward even more to going home.
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