Doublecross in Daegu: DC in Beijing Part 3

There are a lot of interesting and historic places to visit in Beijing...if you can get to them. We happened to visit during National Holiday Week in China (Oct 1 was the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic) and it seemed as if the entire country was in the city...OK slight exaggeration but it was crazy crowded everywhere we went. We did manage to go to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Silk Market, and the Chinese Acrobatics Show. Here are some pictures to prove that I'm not lying...

Iconic picture of Mao outside of the Forbidden City

Forbidden City - we spent a couple of hours there and it is pretty amazing. The buildings are among the oldest wooden structures in existence They have names line The Palace of Heavenly Purity, The Hall of Mental Tranquility...just like the names of buildings in the States. It is a gigantic complex of courtyards, palace buildings and other structures. We were able to visit the museum that housed the vases and pottery from the Ming Dynasty and earlier Chinese Dynasties. Hard to believe that they were producing such high quality art pieces more than 200 years before the founding of America.

Moat surrounding the Forbidden City

Posing in front of the Moat

A beautiful park outside the Forbidden City - I didn't catch the name...sorry

So cool...

Tiananmen Square - right across the street from the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square. It is a huge public square where the famous student protests in 1989 occurred Nothing so exciting when we visited but it was a great experience to see the square and remember the events that happened there.