My Time in Hong Kong: Beijing Trip

My second day in Beijing, I woke up relatively early and spent the first half of the day touring the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City. Construction began on the city in 1406 and it was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It was called the Forbidden City, until recently, because no-one could enter or leave the palace without the emperor's permission which. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Because I was alone and not part of a group, I purchased one of those "automatic" guides to give me an audio tour. It was a good investment, although the device didn't seem to stay on my ear and the neck strap kept coming undone. The Forbidden City was really neat to see. It reminded me how much history China holds and how young the United States is.

Inside the Forbidden City

Pagoda in Imperial Garden

Pagoda built on ugly rock (in Imperial Garden)

In Imperial Garden

After the Forbidden City, I walked north to Jingshan Park (which has an amazing view of the Forbidden City) and back to Beihei Park to see the White Dagoba. Then, I tested the Beijing Metro system and went up to the Olympic Village from the 2008 Olympics. It was all really neat to see. I remember seeing the "Birds Nest" and the "Water Cube" on TV so it was neat to see it in person. It was really smoggy though so the visibility wasn't the best. The Olympic Village was odd, but it looked unused. I think it was built for the Olympics and then just sits there now as a vacant tourist attraction.