Beijing - Day Three

Sunday in Beijing was a busy and tiring day for us.

We woke up at 7am to get to Tienanmen Square early before Chairman Mao's Mausoleum closed at noon. If you're unsure about what a mausoleum is, it's a building dedicated to being the burial chamber of a deceased famous person, often visited by tourists to pay their respects to this person.

In China, Chairman Mao is most commonly seen as a heroic figure in the building of what is now the People's Republic of China. He used the Chinese Communist Party to do a lot of great things for the country. He also did some inhumane things, and a lot of those are hidden to the people of China. Chinese history books portray him as a great man, and his face is printed on all national currency. Therefore, it is considered an honor to have a chance to visit Chairman Mao's burial site. Many Chinese citizens consider it something that they have to do before their life is over.

For us, it wasn't so much a big thing, but we thought it was very interesting. Personally, it was nice to see the man that I recently learned so much about. Last year at school, I took a very quality Chinese History class, and had a chance to learn quite a bit about Chairman Mao and his Party's doings. They don't let you take cameras into the mausoleum. They say that 'there is no reason to take Chairman Mao's picture because his face is on the money, so everyone already has many pictures of him.' Alright, I can respect that. Chinese people get to Tienanmen Square every morning before 5 am to line up to enter Mao's Mausoleum - it seems to be quite a big deal. Check out the lines leading into the building...

They wrapped around Tienanmen square like no lines I've ever seen at any amusement parks:

People have umbrellas out to block the heat, not to protect them from rain. Once again, it was an incredibly hot day in China.

The security guards actually made us get out of line after we waited for about 20 minutes (these lines move fast, you're never stopped waiting, everyone maintains a constant pace and they almost push people through seeing Chairman Mao inside of the mausoleum). We got out because I had a backpack on me, and no bags are allowed in the building, so we had to go across the street and check it. The security guard told us we could get back to our spot that we left, which was nice.

Once back to our place in line, it took us maybe 10 more minutes and we were in the mausoleum. People brought in flowers (I've never seen anyone receive so many flowers). It's like Chairman Mao has his own wake/funeral every single day of the year. I read that some 20,000 + people visit Mao every single day. He's got to be the most visited person of all time. :-) ...As we approached his resting place, people became very quiet and respectful, some cried, some smiled, it seemed to be a very emotional experience for many visitors. For me, Chairman Mao looked somewhat 'doll-like' and very well preserved, but it was nonetheless a very cool visit.

From there, we headed across the square to the Forbidden City (ohh look, a nice big portrait of Chairman Mao, right there on the front building leading into the Forbidden City)...

So what is the Forbidden City? Well, it was built in the early 1400s, it's full of almost 1,000 buildings with classic Chinese architecture, it was the home of emperors for hundreds of years, and was used as the center of governmental business as well. It is magnificently large, the buildings are beautiful, you walk a ton, and people are everywhere.

About halfway through our journey within the Forbidden City, Ibbi found a closed door that seemed to be unlocked, and he poked it open. Turned out there was a nice restaurant behind the door, and no one was there. Air-conditioning at last!! It was magical. We purchased a few waters, and sat down to play some Chinese Checkers. Paul and Ibbi had never played before, I remembered a few things about the game from playing it a while back, but we asked the waiters how to play correctly and they taught us. We probably sat there for an hour and a half drinking water and playing Chinese Checkers. It ended up being a lot of fun!...

After a while, we made it to the end of the Forbidden City, and headed for a short hike up to the top of Jingshan Hill inside of Jingshan Park, where there sat a few halls overlooking the sites below. Tiring...

Before making it to the top, a man sold us some pretty flashy Chinese hats. Yes, they do have fake black hair attached to them... :-)

Once atop the hill, we had a great view of the Forbidden City...

After Jingshan Park, we headed back to the hostel for dinner and we crashed. We had to be up the next morning at 5am to prepare for our trip to the Great Wall on Monday!

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PMM