Forbidden City

Unfortunately, a lot of the more impressive buildings were under construction during my visit, so often all I got to see was a giant piece of tarp with a faded photo of what I was actually supposed to be seeing.

Since the weather was so hot, and we were tired, Dave and I made it our quest to find the Starbucks which was supposedly operating right inside the walls of the Forbidden City. We asked some merchants at the south gate where it was, but they denied its existence and said it had been shut down. We wandered around some more and eventually found it, in a tiny unmarked building with no Starbucks signs flanking its perimeter. Apparently, some people were upset at having a multinational corporation setting up shop inside a national treasure, so they were trying to keep a low profile. I ordered a Mango Tea Frappucino, and it was delicious.

Sadly, this was the highlight of my trip to the Forbidden City -- although I'm sure that I would have had a completely different experience had everything not been covered up.

Maybe it was the hype before going. You know how it is, you hear and read about it for year and when you actually see it... that's it. Obviously the forbidden city is a must see in Beijing but my suggestion would be go with lowered expectations.

Lying
at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong, in
Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen
Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex
and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and
a ten meter high wall are 9,999 buildings. The wall has a gate on
each side. Opposite the Tiananmen Gate, to the north is the Gate
of Devine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. The distance
between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between
the gates in the east and west walls is 750 meters. There are unique
and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of
the curtain wall. These afford views over both the palace and the
city outside.

The Forbidden City is amazing and it should be high on everybody’s must-see list. It was certainly one of the highlights of my entire trip to China (but that maybe has to do with the fact that I LOVE the movie ‘The Last Emperor’. I’ve seen it at least a dozen times.).
If you just landed in Beijing and haven’t been in China before, finding your way to this landmark may be quite a hassle though. Make sure you bring a travel guide (like Lonely Planet) or phrasebook that mentions sights like The Forbidden City in English and in Chinese characters. You can show the Chinese characters to a taxi driver and he will take you there without problems. If you try and explain to him in English (or try and pronounce the Chinese words) where you want to go, you’ll never get there. Almost nobody understands English, or a slightly different pronunciation of Chinese words.
When you arrive at the main entrance of The Forbidden City, you’ll be dropped in huge crowds of people. (It’s best to come as early as possible to avoid masses. Nine o‘clock or 9:30 is ideal.) Most people will be headed towards Tiananman square where there is a huge waiting line. It seems as if you should join this line in order to buy tickets for The Forbidden City, but this is not the case. That is, unless you want to visit the Mao Mausoleum. Just pass the main entrance of the Forbidden City and keep on walking. Asking directions or any kind of questions is useless, nobody speaks a word of English.
Past the second gate you’ll find small booths with different prices on their plastic windows and women sitting behind those windows ticking their pencil at the price to draw your attention. It may seem as if you should buy your entrance tickets for The Forbidden City here, but again this is not the case. It remains a mystery why those booths are there and what it is those women are trying to sell.
A few yards further you’ll finally see a partially closed gate, in the small building next to it you can buy your entrance tickets. There is a possibility to also buy an audio tour, and I liked this very much. It is spoken by Roger Moore and has the atmosphere of an exciting radio play. The audio tour is highly recommended since there are no signs in English and also no English speaking guides. Without the audio tour you’ll have no idea what it is you are looking at.
Once you’re in The Forbidden City you should remember to take your time. You’ll need hours just to cross the enormous complex without looking at anything. Also keep in mind that around 90% of the visitors of The Forbidden City are Chinese, and they have never heard of anything that resembles the idea of ‘personal space’. They also like to walk around with umbrella’s to prevent their faces from tanning, but since they are quite short, the edges of their umbrella will be at the height of your eyes. You’ll need a certain ‘Zen-state’ in order to fully appreciate the beautiful Forbidden City. But it is guaranteed to be memorable event, no matter how hard or easy your visit may be!