Forbidden City, Beijing

Yesterday we hung out at the Emperor's palace (AKA The Forbidden City by Tiananmen Square).

Bright eyed, we excitedly made our way over to Tiananmen, where we were stopped in our tracks at the sight of the security line (security in and around Tiananmen is insane!) just to get into the Square. Sandwiched amongst the hoards of other eager tourists, we debated whether to grab breakfast and come back, but by that point, we were already halfway to the security checkpoint and decided to sit tight.

The front half of the security line, from our viewpoint.  You get herded between the railings and once you're in, there's no getting out from there.

Tiananmen Square was cool, but we had come to see the Forbidden City, and so it was off to the Emperor's palace for us! The Forbidden City is huge; the architecture is really stunning and the contrast between pale, white sculptures and walkways and bright, intricately painted ceilings and details was really interesting to me.

Tiananmen Square

One of my favourite snaps

We spent hours walking around the City, weaving in and out of buildings, exploring the many nooks and crannies, and generally trying to avoid the hoards of tourists everywhere.

We took some fun photos and stopped for a little picnic lunch (leftover bread and hot water! Because our planning skills are stellar and because that's what our breakfast ended up being) on the stairs in the sun, before making our way to the other side of the City and exiting through the official Main Gate.

Enter the Forbidden City

Intricately painted ceilings

The Emperor's garden

...and just for fun:

Across the road, we decided to pay a quick visit to the Imperial Garden, which was just a small hike up to a temple that overlooks the Forbidden City. It was a great place to get an overview of the City we'd just spent hours wandering around.

The Forbidden City, as seen from the Imperial Garden

After making our way back down and wandering around a typical back alley lined with rickshaws and food shops, we hailed a cab and made our way to Houhai. Houhai is in the Xicheng District and is the largest of three lakes in central Beijing (according to Dr. Google).

Wandering around a back alley

Houhai is a touristy stop, full of bars, stalls, and shops; the place is buzzing with energy from locals and tourists alike, bordered by flashes of neon lighting from the bars.  There was also a good array of weird and wonderful smells (I'm looking at you, stinky tofu - I wish I could provide a link to the smell, so as to provide you with the full experience, but such is life. In the interest of maturity, I'll also refrain from telling you what I thought it smelled like, but to be fair, it doesn't taste half bad).

Rickshaw ride in Houhai

We wandered around the narrow alleyways, bumping into other people, and trying different foods before stopping in at a couple of local haunts. First stop, a reggae bar; it's an interesting collision of senses when you're sitting in a bar plastered with Bob Marley posters, listening to rap music, while in Beijing.  Next, we headed to a beautiful beer market (with a "No-Name Restaurant", I'm not joking, that was the name of the restaurant).  We stumbled on the beer market completely by accident.  It was off the beaten path, down a series of darkened alleyways, where we followed the only few signs - tacked sporadically to the alleyway walls - advertising said beer market. It was a little gem, nestled in the rooftops of Beijing, and a nice, cozy spot to end the night.

All in all, it was a long and busy, but really good day. We got lucky with a relatively clear, sunny day; the smog was only visible at a distance, and we even saw a few rogue stars in the sky on our way home.

It was such an interesting contrast to see two completely different parts of Beijing in one day, from the Emperor's throne in the Forbidden City to the neon lights of Houhai.

Today, we tackled the Great Wall, but that's another post for tomorrow!