We started our second day off by meeting with our tour guide near the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square. We walked to the Forbidden City and on our way we stopped and looked at Tienanmen Square. We learned a brief history about it and what the functions of the buildings are now. It was very interesting to see how the past Chinese history is merging and becoming more functional with the modern Chinese culture. After learning about Tienanmen Square, we entered the Forbidden City. The Forbidden city can only be described by being huge and magnificent.
As we entered the Forbidden City, we were greeted with Chinese Tradition. The entrance to the Forbidden City is by the Rank Bridge. The Rank Bridge is a series of bridges that allow you entrance to the city. Your status determines what bridge you would take to enter the city. The center bridge was reserved for only the emperor while the outer bridges were for those of lesser status. The Morning Line also continues through the city. .
As we moved through the Forbidden City, we learned more and more about the Emperors and how they lived within the city. We also learned that is was extremely large. It has about 800+ buildings but there are 9999 rooms in the entire city. The last part of the city that we saw was the Imperial Garden.
The Imperial Garden was the last part of the Forbidden City tour. The garden was beautiful in the winter and I can only imagine how great it must look during the summer. The tree I am in front of here is the Lover's Tree. It is said that if you are photographed in front of it, it will bring you good fortune and a good spouse. I mean, why not get your picture taken in front of it? But after the Imperial Garden, we walked back to the van and made our way to the next part of our day.