It's just amazing to stand in these historic places and think about the events of the past. THe other thing that is literally awesome is the enormity of everything in China. The buildings are massive. One is struck by these huge structures and spaces and yet all of the people all seem crammed into small part of the huge spaces. It's very odd.
The Forbidden City is simply fascinating. It was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. A walled city with massive courtyard after massive courtyard and massive building after massive building. Hard to imagine the thousands of people, the emperor, his concubines, and countless others who occupied the spaces. Some of the buildings served one purposed only - for example the place where the Empress would celebrate her birthday every year. That's it. That's the only time that building or hall would be used. And such beautiful traditional Chinese architecture that has endured for centuries, literally. Makes me want to find a book on Chinese history immediately.
Day 3 was more laid back.....slightly. Our last day in Beijing was kicked off at the Silk Market of course. The girls were wanting chinese dresses. Michelle and Chris had clothes made for them. We embraced the sport of bargaining and spending money. And the children were treated a lot like tourist attractions. I don't know what it is but the entire trip our children were approached and photographed. We had parents asking to photograph our children with their children. And we were constantly torn between feeling amused and cautiously freaked out. I'll have to ask one of my Chinese-American friends why this is such a big deal.
We ended the day with yet another amazing Chinese meal at DaDong and rushed off to see a traditional Chinese acrobat show. I can truly say that we embraced and enjoyed Beijing. I would definitely go back. Especially as we only checked off the big sites to see. There is still so much more. There is the 798 art district, exploring the hutong, and temples galore. Maybe next year. I'm ready for another relaxing beach vacation - perhaps Vietnam or Cambodia next.