Day 3 - Forbidden City and the Summer Palace

December 5: From the hotel to the southern gate of the Forbidden City was a short, but freezing cold, walk. There were fancy hotels and large digital billboards. At one of the street crossings, in front of a department store, there was a temporary sculpture of Christmas ornaments with a sax playing Santa Claus on the side. People were using it as a backdrop to photograph each other.


The Forbidden City was home to the last two dynasties; the Ming and the Ching (Qing). Twenty four emperors lived here with their wives, concubines and children. It was a place of power, intrigue and sadness. Guilan told stories about the lives of some of the inhabitants.

My mom could not believe how big the Forbidden City was. It truly was a city. First she and her friends entered the outer courtyard and took photos, thinking that the building in front of them was the only structure. I wasn’t. It was only one of many ceremonial gates. The moms-to be posed in front of the mama lion guarding an entry way.

The group left the Forbidden City by the north gate and found a small restaurant for lunch. One of the dishes they ate was noodles in soup. My mom took a picture of one of her traveling companions, who is in China to pick up her little sister, eating noodles. They had fun learning how to count to ten (very loudly) in Mandarin, Cantonese and in Guilan’s dialect. The wait staff was very entertained.

After lunch, the group boarded the bus and drove to the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is located on a beautiful lake. Even though it was freezing cold, and the trees were bare, my mom could imagine how calming and peaceful it would be in the summer. One of the more interesting sights at the Summer Palace was the boat made from marble that the Empress had ordered made.