We started today by boarding a bus around 9 and headed to Tiananmen Square. The traffic in Beijing is something to behold. There are cars and buses going in and out of lanes, people on bicycles and mopeds everywhere and on top of it all, there are people just crossing the street whenever they feel like it. Yielding is also a commodity that the Chinese have yet to afford. Here no body stops for a pedestrian, they just honk and keep going. It’s pretty nerve racking just ridding in a bus in all that traffic. We spend about an hour or so in the traffic and finally arrive at the square. The square is just absolutely massive, and the crowd was equally as large as the square. We walked around the square and saw Mao’s Mausoleum or “Maosaleum”, and the large government buildings and the gates of the Forbidden City. The square is an estimated 10 football fields long, so we did quite a bit of walking. There were also people who attempted to sell us what amounted to a junk, and they could be considered aggressive. They would not leave you alone and they asked you 5 or 6 times if you wanted to buy their junk. The memorable Mao watch has become an icon to all street vendors as we were bombarded by at least 3 different people attempting to sell them.
After a brief period of picture taking, we headed over to the Forbidden City, where we took a tour of the Emperor’s sacred living establishment. This place could be described as a fortress more than a city, as it was surrounded by a moat, and high walls. The emperor also had plenty of space at his disposal. The city felt as if it was bigger than Tiananmen Square. The unique architecture of the buildings plays to into the idea of the emperor being considered a god. Much of the palace was made only for the benefit of the Emperor. His subjects were only there to make him feel comfortable and give him all the information he needed to be the Emperor. After walking through courtyard after courtyard we finally finish the tour and exited out the back through the gardens. We then caught our bus and had lunch in a mall, where Vivienne ordered another 10 course meal. The meal was very good and had some spicy dishes, which I found to be really good. We then did some shopping and walked through some streets with many vendors selling nick-knacks and other small trinkets. They were even more aggressive than the traveling salesmen we met in Tiananmen Square; they grabbed and pulled you toward their stands. I had to be just as aggressive to get away. The most memorable thing in the market was the insects on a stick. They were still moving which made me wonder how someone would go about eating a live scorpion, but it was then explained they fry the little suckers before serving them. Some of the group bartered for some cheep little trinkets and I bought a pair of chopsticks, that looking back were way too expensive, but they did come from a more legitimate shop, so I don’t feel as poorly. We then headed back to the hotel where I passed out from pure exhaustion. I ate dinner at Mr. Pizza, as I was longing for a more American meal. I then headed back to the hotel for a semi-satisfactory sleep.