{Beijing Adventures} Forbidden City & Tiananmen Square 29.0

There is a tunnel-like area once you enter Tiananmen Square that leads up north to the entrance of Forbidden City. Being in the sun was actually fine but when we were in the shade, it was freezing.

For the next time I decide to be so smart to go exploring in below freezing weather, my packing list will include:

• Heat packs
• Big, comfy, soft, light jacket (emphasis on light)
• Leg warmers
• Warm gloves
• A scarf big enough to cover my face (Make that two big scarfs)
• Tissues (lots and lots of tissues)

Once we passed the tunnel, we are right in front of the ticket office, where we can see one of the palaces peeking out from within the Forbidden walls. Tickets were RMB$40 per person, which makes that RMB$80 for the both of us.  

Silly Amar with his upside down map of the Forbidden City.

In addition to the ticket office after you pass through security, there is an automatic guide area where you can purchase guides in like a bajillion languages (list of languages in picture below). it's a bit pricey since it's the same price as admission into the place! This is where we tag along private English tours and follow them around.. Haha jk. But they did have English speaking tours but they were going way too slow. Amar and I did get two (I wanted to get one so we can share but the device is a bit outdated.. making it very difficult to navigate through the correct audio for the right area). Another RMB$80, making this total exploration through Forbidden City alone at RMB$160- which is US$26.41. 

It ended up to be a good decision to get one for each of us because it turns out that there is only one headphone. 

From here on are the pictures taken from our own tour. The Forbidden Palace was built in the fifteenth century by one of the Ming Emperors. It became one of the most complex architectural masterpieces in the world with hundreds of buildings and more than 10,000 rooms. The audio tour said that there is a harmonious balance between the buildings and open space. It was the imperial palace for twenty-four emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties and it was forbidden to enter (or exit for that matter) without special permission of the emperor. 

The stone carving below is located in the middle of the stairway behind the Hall of Perserving Harmony. It is known as the biggest stone sculpture in the Forbidden City and it's a huge piece of marble carving with nine dragons with pearls. They said that back in the day, anyone who was caught touching this holy stone would get the death penalty. It also took a month to transport the whole stone with mules and horses. Can you imagine O.O?! Oh and this stone carving weighs 250 tons. Oou lawd.

Towards the very end after the Gate of Earthly Tranquility is the Imperial Garden, built in 1417. The whole palace is huge. No wonder it's called a whole city. They got everything up in here! I remember from my Asian dramas that date back to the time of the emperors, they would have the servants run to fetch everything. With the lack of any technology back then.. how would you know what you're getting is what they want. And then you gotta go back. No thank you. Anyways, back to the garden. It's a private garden for the imperial family with structures that creates harmony along with the trees, stones, flowerbeds, and etc. 

^So short compared to the exiting North gate to the Forbidden City.

We were only allowed to exit at the North gate due to the amount of tourists there were on that day. Meaning- we have to walk around the exterior of the Forbidden City all the way back. Yay!

Lol, but it turned out to be a good experience because we were able to see the houses? and stores outside. I wonder how it was back then living right outside of the Forbidden City. Must be some expensive real estate! 

^The ice of the water surrounding the gates were frozen. Definitely a beautiful sight. 

^There was a guard who looked like he was in a rush and he came up, passed us, and turned into this alley. It looks like something out of the dramas! I wonder if they film here.. I wanted to follow him to see where he went. Literally once he turned, he disappeared. Ninja!

The hotel suggested after visiting the Forbidden Palace to go to this street behind Tiananmen Square for lunch. After a very long walk back to the beginning of the Forbidden City, we finally made it to Tiananmen Square! It was huge. 

After asking for directions in my broken one-third English, one-third Cantonese, one-third Mandarin, we found the street! We picked a restaurant we were comfortable with and went with it. So this is how it feels to not have Yelp..

We were starving so we ordered quite a bit. The literal translation of this place is literally noodle love noodle. Lol! This is probably where all the tourists go after visiting the different attractions in the area. We had beef noodles with spicy broth, Beijing dumplings (which are very different to the dumplings we are used to.. It's flat with dumpling fillings), and a veggie dish (gotta have my veggies!)

We were super full after lunch but I've been meaning to try this thing everyone on the street was holding. It's called 糖葫蘆, tanghulu. It is a typical Chinese snack of candied fruit (but I've never had it before and can probably only be found in mainland China). It's on a skewer and it's soo good. It instantly became my favorite. There are many different.. vendors.. selling these candied fruits but it's obvious that it's extremely unsanitary. But I went with it and got one from the next guy I saw selling it. Who happened to be on a bicycle. Who I also happened to notice his nails when he handed it to me.. Which happened to be black all over.. BUT! It's okay. I'm on vacation. It turned out to be the best RMB$2 I've ever spent! Mmmmm, craving it right about now.

After such an eventful early afternoon, it calls for a nap! We took the subway back to our hotel and rested before we head out again for dinner and snacks! Our hotel was conveniently located in the older area of Beijing near a lot of supermarkets and restaurants. The restaurants close really early though so we kept missing them.. but I loved the supermarkets! There are some weird flavors you can't even find in Hong Kong.

^And of course, everywhere Amar goes, he has to watch his head. 

Snacks galore! 

Cool Cucumber, Spicy Seafood, Black Pepper Rib Eye Steak flavored Lays. Where you find that at?

^We actually got this one and it was so good! It definitely has the hot pot taste. Mmm.

^Yeeeeah, we didn't want to try this one. Hot & Sour Fish Soup o.O

These ladies and gents are strawberry flavored and banana flavored Oreos. I bought them back for my brother, so we'll see what he says! 

^This is literally how I looked everywhere I went. At least I was warm! I looked like a Jigglypuff.

Our dinner because everything else was closed.. But I like McDonalds in China so it'z okay. Amar had the Black Pepper Chicken Burger and I had the McSpicy Chicken. The ones in Beijing also have milk tea tapioca, which is what we experimented with. Which was a bad choice. Because the boba was hard and powder-y. Blegh. 

We ordered from the set menu (another thing we don't have in the US) and it came with their newest promotion item, which is the Spicy Pork McBites. It was gross. I took a bite (since Amar doesn't eat pork, I couldn't make him the guinea pig) and spit it right back out. Blegh. This is why I can't ever try anything new (jk). It tasted so weird. 

xoxoxoxo