The Forbidden City

Sounds kind of romantic, doesn't it? The Forbidden City, also called the Imperial Palace, is where the emperors of China lived for 500 years during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It's HUGE because each emperor would add onto it. It's also an extensive museum where many Chinese artifacts are displayed. We walked through courtyard after courtyard lined with buildings and inside the buildings were museums. To see it all you would need 3 whole days or something. So we just enjoyed what we could see in an afternoon.



Here is the famous Nine Dragon screen. Dragons are good luck in China. There are 9 because odd numbers represented masculinity or power and 9 is the highest single digit odd number.



I just like the expression on this dragon. (It's the middle one.)



This is the crown one of the empresses wore.




We just had to get a picture. These people would have a heart attack in Utah if these mounds constitute "perilous hills."


We needed to get back to the hotel in a hurry and this guy offered to drive us. It was one of those situations where I thought Adam would veto it and he thought I'd veto it (both wanting the other to be the responsible parent). So when we were both up for it we had to do it! It was fast because we bypassed car and bus traffic driving in the bike lane.


As you can see, no back door. That's the tightest I've ever held Marian! The whole time we were driving we kept saying we couldn't believe we were doing it, but had a great time. Later we found out they're illegal as taxis. Ignorance is bliss!

Comments

You've never really lived until you've rode in an illegal tryke. The Philippines are full of them. We are excited to see you. When Do you come home?
Deanna said…
You've gotta love dragons. So glad Marian didn't fall out of the taxi!
Hey Martha! How is Hong Kong!! Wow that would be a pretty amazing adventure! I know Naomi because we lived next door our freshman year at BYU in Heritage Halls Dorms. It is a small world!!
theminerfamily said…
I love hearing your stories! So fun to live the culture there.. and live through the illegal ride. I am glad you get to experiences that you are having! Such fun stories.
Ignorance is bliss - I love it! We rode one of those things in Guatemala, nice to bypass the traffic, eh! Lovin your blog as always, I love how I always get a history lesson every time I read it - it is almost as good as being there, well - not really!
Tiffany said…
looks like you guys are having lots of fun out there. you'll be glad to get back home and get settled back into life in America. Hopefully the flight home was OK. And good luck with jet lag. It took us about a week to get over jet lag.

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