The Forbidden City=Palace Museum,BeiHai Park,Hutong lunch and fly to Xian.

WE ARRIVED EARLY ON TIAN'ANMEN SQUARE TO VISIT THE FORBIDDEN CITY NOW OFFICIALLY RENAMED THE PALACE MUSEUM,GUGONG IN CHINESE.IT THE WORLD'S LARGEST PALACE COVERING MORE THAN 70 HECTARES (960 METERS LONG,750 M WIDE) AND HOME TO MORE THAN 9000 ROOMS.BUILT IN THE EARLY 1400s.SURROUNDED BY WIDE AND DEEP MOAT,IT WAS THE HOME AND CENTER OF POWER FOR 24 EMPERORS TILL 1912 WITH THE ABDICATION OF PU YI,THE LAST EMPEROR.WE HAD A BAD WEATHER WITH A POLLUTED GREY SKY AND FOUND TIAN'ANMEN SQUARE CROWDED WITH LOCALS.PROBABLY,IT WAS FOR THEM THAT THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES HAD PUT A MODEL OF THE POTALA OF LHASA!

FOLLOWING THE RED FLAG OF OUR GUIDE,WE ENTERED THE TIAN'ANMEN GATE UNDER THE EYE OF MAO TSE-TUNG FOR REACHING THE MERIDIAN GATE(WUMEN,the front door),THE MAIN AND LARGEST GATE OF THE CITY WITH 5 OPENINGS, LOCATED AT ITS SOUTHERN END.

HERE WE SAW AN IMMENSE COURTYARD WITH 5 BRIDGES STRETCHING OVER THE INNER GOLDEN RIVER,THE CENTRAL ONE WAS EXCLUSIVELY RESERVED FOR THE EMPEROR.THE GATE IS SURROUNDED BY 5 PAVILIONS.THE BRIDGES ARE DECORATED WITH MARBLE BALUSTRADES WITH PHOENIX AND DRAGONS.

WITH THE BAD WEATHER AND NUMEROUS BUILDINGS ON REPAIR,MY CAMERA BECAME LAZY AND I DID ONLY FEW PICS OF THE FOLLOWING VISIT!THEN ENTERING THE GATE OF THE SUPREME HARMONY GUARDED BY A COUPLE OF BRONZE LIONS,WE DISCOVERED THE PROPER OUTER COURT CONSISTING IN 3 HALLS LYING ABOVE A MARBLE TERRACE.THE HALL OF THE SUPREME HARMONY ,SITTING ON A THREE-TIER MARBLE TERRACE OVERLOOKS A HUGE COURTYARD.IT WAS THE SYMBOL OF THE IMPERIAL POWER BEING THE HIGHEST STRUCTURE IN THE COUNTRY DURING 5 CENTURIES(NOBODY WAS ALLOWED TO BUILD HIGHER THAN IT AND EVEN THE TREES SHOULD NOT RISE ABOVE THIS HALL,THAT IS THE REASON WHY THERE IS NO TREE THERE) .

IN ITS MIDDLE STANDS THE IMPERIAL SANDALWOOD THRONE ON A PLATFORM.IN FRONT OF THE HALL THERE ARE 2 GILDED BRONZE VATS USED TO HELD WATER IN CASE OF FIRE(THERE ARE MORE THAN 300 OF THESE VATS).

THEN AFTER A SHORT VISIT TO THE 4 STARS TOILET OF THE PLACE,GOING ALONG LONG HALLWAYS,WE WENT TO THE IMPERIAL GARDEN AND SAW THERE MANY OLD TREES AND THE ACCUMULATED BEAUTY HILL,AN ARTIFICIAL MOUNTAIN PILLED UP WITH DECORATIVE STONES.ON THE TOP OF THE HILL STANDS THE PAVILION OF IMPERIAL VIEW.

LEAVING THE FORBIDDEN CITY,WE WENT TO THE BEIHAI PARK,SITUATED CLOSE TO ITS NORTH GATE.BEFORE ENTERING THE PARK,I SAW SOME SWEATERS GETTING SOME FRESH AIR:THEY WERE SOLD FOR ONLY 10 YUAN(ONE EURO...).BEI HAI MEANING NORTH LAKE( OR SEA),THE NAMESAKED PARK HAS OF COURSE A BEAUTIFUL SCENERY OF LAKE BUT ALSO OF OF ANCIENT LANDSCAPED CHINESE GARDENS WITH ARTIFICIAL HILLS,HALLS,TEMPLES,PAVILIONS AND CORRIDORS.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAKE LIES JADE ISLAND LINKED TO THE SHORE BY 2 STONE BRIDGES TOPPED BY THE WHITE DAGOBA,A BUDHIST TOWER IN TIBETAN STYLE BUILT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY.

AFTER ALL THESE AMAZING SIGHTS,WE DROVE AND HAD LUNCH IN A NEIGHBOURHOOD WHERE REMAIN HUTONGS WHICH ARE NARROW STREETS OR ALLEYS FORMED BY LINES OF SIHEYUAN, THE TRADITIONAL CHINESE RESIDENCES WITH COURTYARDS BUILT IN A SQUARE SHAPE.WE HAD THERE IN A SMALL SIHEYUAN OF 2 ROOMS,HUDDED TOGETHER, AN UNPRETENTIOUS BUT FRIENDLY MEAL.FULL AND RESTED,WE WERE READY FOR A HUTONG RIDE BEFORE OUR FLIGHT TO XIAN.

WE ARRIVED LATE IN XIAN AND WERE DROVEN FOR DINNER IN AN AVERAGE TOURIST RESTAURANT WHERE THE BEST THING WAS AN UMBRELLA'S PADLOCK!AFTER,TIRED, WE WERE GLAD TO GO TO OUR HOTEL MERCURE LOCATED RENMIN SQUARE IN THE HEART OF THE COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT DISTRICT.