Ctourus -- Tour of Tianjin, Chengde, and Beijing, China
Day 5 - Beijing, November 18, 2017
We have a full day visit in Beijing today. Again, we started off with a wonderful breakfast served at the hotel restaurant with many variety of food offerings. It is best to get your fill of food at breakfast when traveling in China, especially for those who have problems eating the monotonous tour food provided at lunch and dinner. Breakfast at most hotels (other than the ones in remote countryside) would have more than enough of choices even for the pickiest eaters, including both western and Chinese offerings. Definitely much better than the continental breakfast at most hotels in the states.
The building where we stayed at in this huge compound.
We had to take a little walk through this part of the hotel...
...to the building where the restaurants are located.
Getting closer to downtown Beijing.
Busy highway
One interesting building, the Galaxy SOHO, probably a mall with offices here.
Passing by the ancient Ming Dynasty Wall. Only a small section still remain after most parts were torn down to make ways for new development of the city.
We stopped across from the China Railway Museum which used to be the Beijing Railway Station.
Then we walked from there to Tiananmen Square.
Tiananmen Square (天安門廣場)
Zhengyang Gate (正陽門), at the south end of Tiananmen Square. This is one of the few ancient city gates that still remain in Beijing. There is a museum housed here also but we did not get to visit it this time.
Gathering around our guide at the massive Tiananmen Square. Security was quite noticeable all around this area with guards and police guiding even foot traffic.
Monument of the People's Heroes (人民英雄記念碑) with the Great Hall of the People (人民大會堂) in the background.
The Forbidden City (National Palace) 紫禁城/故宫
We were suggested to use the restrooms before getting inside the National Palace.
Right outside of Tiananmen, gateway to the Forbidden City, and an iconic symbol of China.
One of the many columns in front of the gate.
Flags of China and Panama displayed as the president of Panama just visited the country.
Guards in civilian clothes making sure everything is in order.
Duanmen (端門), the Gate of Uprightness with the sign "National Palace Museum".
Tiananmen National Flag Protection Guards
Entering the Forbidden City with security check at the Meridian Gate (午門).
Decorative ceiling of the Taihe Gate (太和門) (Gate of Supreme Harmony).
The very crowded Taihe Hall (Hall of Supreme Harmony 太和殿). This is the most central axis of the palace and a very important hall of the Forbidden City.
I was not able to get a closer look at the inside of the hall due to the pushing crowd. This was the best I could do.
It was way too crowded so we gave up checking out the Baohedian, one of the three halls in the outer court.
Instead we turned to the side and went to the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility (Cining Hall 慈寧宫). We have never been over on this side of the Forbidden City which is opened to the public recently.
The 'alley way' between Cining Hall on the right and Xianrouguan (咸若館) on the left. I have always imagined, as depicted in most movies or TV series, that the alley ways inside the palace are much narrower than this.
Cining Hall
We were told that this was where the Empress Dowager (Cixi) lived in this hall during the last period of the Ching Dynasty. It is now a museum with buddha statues inside (Dafotang).
The back of Cining Hall and Shoukangong.
The front.
Our guide told us to look for an arrowhead that was stuck and left somewhere up near the ceiling of Longzongmen when someone tried to attack the palace. We were not able to find it and he finally told us that it's right there on the left of the sign. Can you see it?
Continued our walk towards the back exit of the palace passing by several great halls that the Emperors occupied.
Finally, we were at the inner court where the princess, queens, and concubines lived.
I believe this is the called the Chuxiugong (Hall of Collective Beauties 儲秀宫).
Qianqiu Pavilion (千秋亭)
It is certainly beautiful and serene in this area with many pavilions, decorative rocks, ponds, plants, and trees.
Exiting the North Gate of the National Palace as we completed our tour.
The moat surrounding the palace.
Then we were taken to lunch at this restaurant on the second floor. We were also back at this same restaurant for dinner that everning.
Temple of Heaven (天壇)
Temple of Heaven is an important site where the emperors offered their prayers to heaven annually for good harvest.
Passing by the many local citizens enjoying their daily social interaction playing card games, mahjong, chess, etc. at the Temple of Heaven Park. Quite a sight to see.
The long corridor where the seniors gathered.
The main part of Temple of Heaven--The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿).
This is a triple-gabled circular building built on three levels or marble stone base.
The building is built completely wooden, with no nails. The original building was burnt down by a fire caused by lightning in 1889 and it was rebuilt several years later.
Everything inside the temple has its symbolic meaning. From the number of pillars to the square and circular shapes of the design all represent certain important believes.
Qianmen Street (前門大街)
After our visit to the Temple of Heaven, if I remember correctly, we were taken to an acrobatic show and then dinner. I cannot recall where the acrobatic show was but it was quite amazing even for a person like me who don't usually enjoy acrobatic shows. Then we had dinner and to end the day, we were taken to the Qianmen Pedestrian Street for a bit of shopping. We did not buy anything to take home but had more local snacks while exploring this area.
It looked a little bare at the south end of the street. The busier part is on the north end near the Zhengyang Gate.
MOR wanted a picture of this mobile police station. With the policeman watching from the bus, I was a little nervous when taking this picture.
This bun place was made famous by the Premier Shi after he visited one of their branches in Beijing.
Cute sculpture depicting workers making the buns.
We just had to get some stuffed buns to try from their 'take-out' counter, and they were DELICIOUS!
North end of the street where the Zhengyang Jian Lou (正陽箭樓) and Zhengyang Gate (正陽門) can be seen. There are also many name-brand stores on this street, including H&M, Sara, Sephora, etc.
There are also many old, local stores and restaurants on the side streets, like this one called Dashilan (木栅欄) Street. Seemed like very popular with the locals.
This was one of the side streets called Xianyukou Street (鮮魚口街). I am pretty sure I have read about this street before in one of the novels. While other members in our party enjoyed some snacks from the side streets, we did not have enough time there since we wasted quite a bit of time at the first store we saw figuring there wasn't much to see. It was time for us to meet back up with our guide for our ride back to the hotel for the night after a full day in Beijing.