David Does Beijing! Day 6: "Perceptions"

The Forbidden City was the objective of the day. Happily for all of us, the city is no longer "Forbidden."Far from it. Today also marks a Chinese national holiday - "Tomb Sweeping Day."  The closest such observance we have in the U.S. would be our Memorial Day. Here in China, grave sites are decorated by family members. Nice tradition.

This is all by way of saying that more than the usual number of Chinese were able to visit the Forbidden City with us today. Surprisingly, the thousands of additional visitors didn't affect the enjoyment nor the ability to see, touch, photograph and enjoy everything we wanted to see and do.  What a memorable visit!

Tianamen Square serves as the "front yard" of the Forbidden City.  It is as big, and perhaps even bigger than we've all seen on the news or in documentaries. Chairman Mao's mausoleum is the introduction to the Square. We opted not to join the many visitors at his resting place on this particular Tomb Sweeping opportunity.

The Forbidden City is much like the one we all watched in "The Last Emperor" - and so much more. The sights, sounds, the people, the breezes all serve to enhance this memorable day. Thanks to digital cameras, nearly unlimited photo ops were possible. I certainly took more than my share.  Chinese love to visit the City as much as sightseers from around the world. As cosmopolitan as any city with a multi-million population, Westerners are still a treat in The Forbidden City. We learned after a few requests from a few Chinese visitors simply love to have their photos taken - with Americans in the frame! Fun for them. Fun for us.

A hallmark of this entire visit seems to have been: "history in the morning / shopping in the afternoon / unbelievable dinners nightly." Lots of all of this.

We have been more than blessed with Ca's presence, her expertise, her knowledge, her humor, her sense of fun and adventure and her willingness to accommodate the two first-time visitors to The People's Republic.

Tomorrow? History, shopping, eating. (No use in changing a winning scheme!)