On Wednesday, we visited the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. The Forbidden City is the center of Beijing, located in the middle of it's six rings. We first physically saw the Forbidden City two Monday's ago, when we visited Beihai Park. From the highest point of the temple there, one can see the Northern Gate of the Forbidden City. We were lead by the same tour guide who took us up the Great Wall, Frank. The Forbidden City is a collection of buildings previously inhabited by China's emperors since the capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. We learned that no square shaped area in the Forbidden City may contain trees. This is because a Chinese character standing for trouble, 困, looks like a square with a tree in it. Therefore, recreating the character in the sacred home of the emperor was asking for, unsurprisingly, trouble. The emperors also feared that crafty assassins might utilize the trees as hiding places. The Forbidden City contains thousands of rooms, as it was not only home to the royal family, but all members of the court. Shockingly, all three thousand of the emperor's concubines lived there. Some of these concubines were even buried in the same tomb as the emperor, as we learned at the Ming Tombs.
Tiananmen Square was originally built as the gate to the Forbidden City. It's the size of 60 football fields, and no bicycles are allowed in the square. I learned after the visit that there is a ￥5 fine for littering in the Square. The Square, as well as the Forbidden City, contains stone lions, placed there to guard the sites. We learned how to identify the gender of the stone lions. Female lions have cubs under their left paw, while male lions have a ball under their left paw. We also saw Belgian flags flying alongside Chinese flags, as the Belgian president is currently visiting China.
On Friday, we saw the Temple of Heaven, which was designed by the same architect as the Forbidden City. Like many parks in Beijing, it is a popular spot for retirees to dance, sing, and do calisthenics. It holds many shrines, which people often pray at, and photos of which are not allowed to be taken. It also has the Echo Wall and the Stone Mound, both of which bend sound in unique ways. The Echo Wall allows one to hear anything said by a person along the wall as if they were an arm's length away. This wall was put to the test by the BC High lads, and the results were very positive. Everyone could hear each other, but we seemed to find that it only worked going right to left. The Stone Mound allows one's voice to be heard clearly in all directions, regardless of which direction one faces while speaking.
Our excursion wrapped up with a visit to the Pearl Market, a popular tourist market where all kinds of fake and knockoff goods can be purchased. Such goods included, but were not limited to, Rolexes, Louis Vuitton wallets and bags, sports jerseys, headphones of all shapes and sizes, and designer clothes. But by far the best part of the market is the bartering. Every student sharpened their bartering skills at the Pearl Market, and were resolute on getting the best prices possible. With Ms. Chen's assistance, the whole BC High group became a haggling force to be reckoned with. We all left the Pearl Market excited to discuss the deals we got, and learn who got the most items for the least amount of yuan. We then went home with our host families, excited and saddened that the next few days would be our last weekend in China.
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