We head off to the Forbidden City. In Beijing their is a subway stop that drops you off at Tienanmen square. When you get off you see a huge gate (check out the pictures) from where I assume the Chinese could defend the area. I assume that because now the tower is a free standing building with no walls on either side. Anyway, from the gate we walk around Mao's tomb and through Tienanmen Square. It is huge. They say more than a million people can fit in the square. On the other side of the square is the Forbidden city.
The Forbidden city is huge. The whole thing is made to make you feel small. You start by going through several huge enclosed squares. Then you come up to the kings throne from which you can look south through the whole forbidden city and the huge gates on the other side of Tienanmen Square. You could tell these guys had a lot of money. Behind (about 100 feet) the building with the throne is whole building where the Emperor would rest before he went to the throne room. About 100 feet past this building is a whole building where the Emperor would change before he went to the resting building on his way to the throne room. Anyway, it goes on and on like this. I really don't know how they filled all those buildings. On the way out I snapped a picture of a Chinese baby waking. The thing about the babies in China is they don't wear diapers. They just have a big slit in the rear of their pants. So they just go when they want to go.
After you walk through the Forbidden city you can pay just a little extra to walk up the hill on the other side. From here we were able to look down on the whole palace. It was worth it.
After all this our friend took us to a massage parlor. Let me describe what you get for $15. They give you a menu from which you order all you can eat and drink. Then they message your shoulders for about 20 minutes. By this time you have eaten whatever you have ordered so you order more food. Now they massage you feet for about an hour. All the while your ordering from the menu. Then they massage your calves for about 30 minutes. So in total you get a two hour massage and all you can eat food for $15. Pretty good price I say.
W + M
