Beijing Itinerary Day 4

Hello Travellers. Welcome back. It's time for another day in Beijing and an important tourist destination that we haven't yet visited: The Forbidden Palace. You may remember that in Day 2 we tried to visit but they had made Mondays half day closing, so we returned on a Wednesday, armed with about 5 hours to take on this rather large, must-see attraction. Obviously some people might take a whole day, others come as part of a coach tour and have an hour to run around its vastness, but five hours was enough to do everything and still feel like speed tourists - just a little slower than usual. This is something you need to see and see a lot of, so I don't advise the shortened coach tour version, unless of course you only have a crazily short time in Beijing.

First of all, considering the wonder of this place and the fact that it once was forbidden to enter - though there are still parts you can't access and these and made very clear - you really get a great deal on the entry fee. It's only actually 40RMB, the equivalent of £4 to get it, and then once inside there are a further two museums you can enter at the small price of 10RMB (£1) each. Bargain!

Get there early-ish to avoid mega queues. Summer opening hours between July and August are from 8am and the rest of the year 8.30am. And I have just checked up and now it is closed every Monday, all day, not just half day for cleaning and maintenance. So Mondays are out. Closing times are around 5pm with last entrance an hour before that, but again I wouldn't advise such a short time as the place is massive and just to walk through without seeing anything would take you the best part of that hour.

So without giving too much away, here is the Palace Museum - as it is also called - the amazing and largest palace complex in the world.

 Looking towards the Gate of Supreme Harmony. 

You will pass through an array of gates and halls, all with the most flowery, poetic names you could imagine. Between each gate is a variety of buildings, bridges and steps, but most of all space. There are these huge expanses of white stone, sweeping plains of solitude and tranquillity, or at least they would be if there weren't thousands of tourists hunkering to get in there. My advice, once you enter, is to not follow the crowds straight through but to veer off to the right and explore something off the beaten path.

You'll find a pottery exhibit and some other interesting buildings, with most things translated into English, but most of all you'll let those coach loads disperse enough for you to enjoy the view when you return to the main forecourt.

 A nice setting for a pottery exhibit, don't you think?

 I love these guys up on the roof, they are the defenders of the palace, they watch out for the emperors and their families, and they are on all the roof tops, every corner. That's a lot of watch dragons.  

Continuing on through the palace complex you will find signs for the Hall of Clocks and the Hall of Treasures. These are the two museums that you have to pay extra for. DO IT! They are amazing and totally worth the ridiculous £1 entry. I am a slight clock geek so there was no way you were stopping me.

 Just nipping through the gate of National Prosperity......

 And just a couple of pics from the cool clock collection. It was surprising how many were British made.

One of the stand out treasures in the Hall of Treasures is the Dragon screen, an awesome mosaic of tiles consisting of 7 dragons in different colours. There is also a mini palace named: The Complete Palace of Peace and Longevity, a mini forbidden palace, with all the halls and gates you would expect, just a fraction of the size. Nice. N.B If you don't pay the price to enter here, you miss a hefty chuck of the museum.

 7 dragon screen and mini palace. 

 Another absolute gem of the palace museum is the Opera House. It's a three storey beauty named the Pavilion of Cheerful Melodies - come on, that's just a fantastic name - and boasts several trap doors and secret panels, where all manner of creatures would manifest during a performance. To see an Opera there must have been incredible. There is also an opera exhibit winding through the building adjacent, giving you, all the while, great views of the Pavilion.

 Amazing!

Oh, I just need to warn you of the well of the concubine, which is very close to the Opera House. For the Chinese it is a very important part of the museum and you will be elbowed out of the way! The significance for an outsider is very little, so if there is a crazy mob around it, I would probably stay away. They can get pretty feisty, especially those speedy coach tour people.

At this point you are very close to the North end of the palace and are likely to be peckish. There is a restaurant and gift shop, as well as a coffee shop and kiosks to buy a variety of cold and hot food and snacks. We plumped for dumplings which were plentiful and delicious.

 The walls separating particular halls and areas, creating this beautifully colossal corridor. 

The restaurant and gift shop. Nice and bright. 

After our well  needed rest and refuel, the guide suggested that we do the Imperial Garden, followed by the Western Palaces and then finish with the final three halls of the Palace of Heavenly Purity. So that's what we did. Obviously, there are a million different routes you can take, but if your guide suggests one and it works for you and where you plan to go next, then go for it. There's no right or wrong way. 

 The dragon scaring the fish in the Imperial Garden. 

 One of many beautiful pavilions. 

 Exploring the abundance of homes and halls in the Western Palaces.

 There are so many halls and gates that you do get a little overwhelmed and like most things, once you've seen twenty five halls you get a little quicker through the next ten, but it really is a fantastic complex full of beautiful architecture, historic significance and genuine wonder. We finished with the Palace of Heavenly Purity and exited through the North Gate. N.B You must enter through the South Gate, but you can exit at North, South or East gates, though once you have gone through, South and East are going back on yourself.

 The Palace of Heavenly Purity

 Exiting through North Gate and a great view of the moat. 

If you do leave via North Gate, you will see this in front of you, and perhaps a challenge, or simply, the next stop on your tour of Beijing. This is Jingshan Park with its temple on the hill. Prepare for some steps. 

They are nice leisurely steps, though after many hours in the Forbidden City, my little legs were tired. We had a rest part way up, sat on a bench nibbling snacks and drinking water, with a nice view. 

Look at this. Mystical. This is the very ethereal, hazy Forbidden Palace, from the temple on the hill in Jingshan Park. Majestic and slightly terrifying. You can just about realise the enormity of it from here. 

As you make your way back down to wander in the park, keep an eye out for bird watchers. they may be wearing camouflage, but they will alert you to some interesting birds. We spotted him and then managed to spot the bird, which courtesy of birdingbeijing.com, I have managed to find. Who knew that magpies could be so beautiful? Check out the website for more indigenous Beijing birds. 

 A Red-Billed Blue Magpie.

After a brief stroll through the park and figuring out where we now were, we took a taxi to the Dashilar, an historic shopping street famous for its silk, jade and other wares. You can also sample some traditional Chinese sweets and cakes  - though remember they are not particularly sweet and have no translations, so you have to do a bit of blind taste testing. Only for the brave.

 Dashilar

 A Chinese Cake

Indoor Bazaar

As usual with shopping excursions, you will be followed around the shop. They don't think you're shoplifting, they just do this with everyone. It's their very own brand of customer services and they are just trying to make a sale. In fact if you go into one of the many tea shops, they will offer you samples too. The vast majority of the silk and clothes shops here, offer custom made garments. A nice idea if you've got the time and money, and perhaps speak a little more Chinese.

For the night we had tickets for an acrobatic show at the Chaoyang Theatre and so we headed over to the high rise district - Huijalou - to have a quick night time peek before the show. 

 Some big buggers.

We managed to find a shopping centre that was open and had a brief wander and grabbed a bite to eat before the show. One thing you should know about this district is that crossing the road is even more dangerous than usual. The roads are huge. Quite often there are six lanes of traffic coming from different directions and you and the other fifty or so people waiting to cross, have to gauge if the green man will  help and then take life into your own hands. Stay with the pack. If they go, you go. They're locals, they know what they're doing. 

Standing amongst these dark giants, some of the structures rather ominous against the dull November night, was such a contrast to the Forbidden Palace where we had been hours earlier. In fact, it was such a contrast to anywhere we'd been in Beijing so far. The business districts are always fascinating places to come, just for a short time. Places were the higher the building the better and the more zany the architecture the better. One of those buildings is actually the CCTV building, which is a television network building. Check it out here:

http://www.arup.com/projects/china_central_television_headquarters.aspx

The Chaoyang Theatre Acrobatic Show is another permanent tourist fixture, much like the Kung Fu show we saw in Day 2, but this one is clearly filled with all the top gymnasts that couldn't make the Chinese Olympic team - it must be really hard coming from a country this big when only a hand full of gymnasts can be chosen to represent their country. They were phenomenal and it was really entertaining. You could take photographs throughout, which was a nice touch and again, if you are English and picking up tickets, they will be waiting outside with a sign with your name on. Further details can be found on this website:

http://www.chaoyangacrobaticsofficialweb.com/

I won't spoil it for you, though I'm sure they change the show around lots, but here are a few gems from the night. 

 The Chaoyang Theatre. Home of the Acrobatic Show.

Then we finished the night off with a short subway journey to Nanluoguxiang. This time, on the instructions of a friend we found a brewery which had its own special brews. It is quite tricky to find and you have to take a little hutong off the main drag, which is not particularly well lit, but once you find it, it's bloody worth it. 

Learn more about the Great Leap Brewery here: http://www.greatleapbrewing.com/ and enjoy sampling hand crafted beer from the first of its kind in Beijing. We sat outside, in November, with outside heaters and candles. Nice atmosphere and I'm not surprised that it was full of international people. A great place to hang out. 

Well that's all for day 4 and a busy one it was. Join me next time for the final day of Beijing - for now - including the Summer Palace and Olympic Park. And there might just be some Peking Duck in there too. 

Thanks for reading. 

The Sarky Traveller